Risen From The Ashes
by Shadowz101
Summary: Its been 3 rebirths and now they are in the isle of the blest...but when everything is not what it seems they duo escape the underworld and embark no a treacherous quest. what will happen. Recently renamed from Immortal Even In Death. Had to change it the name was terrible. UPDATE: On Hiatus but not discontinued.
1. Death

Chapter 1

Most people are afraid of death. I'm not. I guess after fighting almost all my life against almost every being that could be thrown at me, the fear was drilled out. At age 16 I had been put through hell, battered bruised and beaten and yet I still stood defiant. I had then lived, got married, had children and did everything a normal person would do in his lifetime. Sure I had been made a 'hero'. I really just wanted to get on with my life.

After the war ended I finally realised my feelings for Annabeth, my soul mate in almost every sense of the world. After 2 years we were engaged and after 4, we were happily married. 2 years later My 2 daughters, Skye and Ariana were born. We wanted more but Annabeth had injured herself giving birth and she could no longer have children. For years we lived happily as a family. We had successful jobs, watched our children grow up, watch our children's children grow up and grow old. As we neared the ending of our days we decided to try for rebirth. We knew it was a long shot that we would ever find each other again but we had hope and that was all that mattered. We were in love and we would not fail. I suppose the hardest part of all was watching Annabeth die. She didn't go in her sleep. She died of cancer. I had to watch as her final few months of life got dimmer and dimmer and I could not numb the pain in my heart that was growing every second of the time I watched her laboured breath. She was 61. That's really not even that old. I sat next to her hospital bed squeezing her ice cold fingers and watched the light leave her stormy grey eyes. For an hour she had lay there without as much as a word. Just before the end she simply said two words.

"_Remember me"_

I tried to get on with my life but it was impossible. Even my own daughter could not save me from my own guilt. I didn't kill myself but I might as well had. My soul was gone. I was empty. I lived like a hermit for a while. My skin grew white from where I never went outside. No sun, no talking. For years I never opened my mouth to say so much as a word. My daughter Skye tried to talk to me, make me see reason but to no avail. As I grew near my 71st birthday I grew very ill. I could have called the doctor but I didn't. I could have called my children but I didn't. Besides I hadn't spoken to them in over 3 years. I just wanted to die and be with my darling Annabeth. I got sicker and sicker. Eventually the pain was too much and did call Sky and Ariana one last time.

They stayed with me for the last of my life; 3 days. I never wanted them to see my like this. What had happened to me? Hero of the Titan Wars reduced to a shadow of a man. My father would be ashamed of me. As I sat there with my children, begging for forgiveness, I prayed to my father. I prayed for him to forgive me for all the days that I had wasted. I looked at both my children sat around my deathbed thinking to myself _how did I let it get this fucked up_? I felt my body shudder and Ariana put a damp cloth on my forehead. I was burning up…not long now. I looked at her adoringly. Every time I looked at them both they reminded me of her mother. Ariana had shoulder length black hair, the same colour as mine but she still held the same dark eyes her mother did. Skye kept her mothers blonde curls but her eyes were sea green like my very own; like our kids were ourselves mirrored in two ways.

I lay on my death bed thinking that maybe, just maybe, I should have been a better father. I had spent so much time wallowing in my own self pity at my wife's loss that I had never once stopped to think of my girls. I had thought that because they were adults they did not need me to help them through their mother's death, which they could deal with their grief themselves without a father figure. What made me figure that out I don't know but I did and now I can't change that because I'm dying. I couldn't even open my mouth to tell them how much I love them because if I did I would have screamed. I was in so much pain. I had to breathe shallow because every time I took a deep breath I coughed up blood. I had two grandkids that could have been here but I didn't want them to see this. It was hard enough making my daughters deal with it bringing anyone else here could make me break down and cry. The look of horror on my children's faces at that moment was probably the most I could take. I hated myself for calling them but at the same time I was glad I did.

As I was getting closer and closer to death, Skye went out of the room to get some morphine out of her bag; she was a paramedic and I had called her while she was on call. She brought a needle in and injected me with the drug. My limbs slowly lost all feeling and my mind grew more and more tired. I was old so my mind was already at its limit when it was healthy. I lay down for a while, flitting in and out of consciousness, knowing that it couldn't be long now. I could feel my own heartbeat slowing. So much I wanted to say. I opened my mouth and was surprised when sound came out. I hadn't been able to talk for a few days and what came out was more like a grunt or a hum but it was a sound…and it startled me. I couldn't hold on for much longer. I was slipping. I had to say what I wanted to say now or I will never get another chance. Ariana, who was closest to the bed at the time noticed this sound immediately and lent over my bed and talked to me softly.

"Father…" She looked intently into my eyes. I could dark streaks where her tears had stained her makeup. She was 49 years old and she was still the most beautiful thing in the world to me…well tied with Skye. Skye came into the room briskly at the sound of my voice. Red bags had formed under her eyes where she had been crying. You could see age in her face but she still had smooth skin. Both of them. I tried not to cry as I realised that this was probably the last few minutes I will spend with her…ever. I realised this is it, so I opened my mouth and had the final conversation, the one I wish I had more time to say.

"Ariana…my dear" I rasped. My throat felt scratchy from illness. The morphine was making it hard to make cohesive thought. I pushed on.

"I am so sorry…I have failed as a father. I…I…I should have been there for you after your mother died…instead…I…I" I could feel my life leaving me.

"I bailed…I'm so-"she held her hand up and took my hand. She looked deep in my eyes. She spoke very sternly

"Don't apologise father. I love you…we all make mistakes". She put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I just wish…I had more time" I said. Skye smiled at my kindly. Her smile was exactly like Annabeths.

"Don't we all" she whispered. She turned away in an attempt not to let me see her cry. I loved how even now she would try and protect my feelings. One of the many things I would miss about her. My body was starting to feel weaker and I could almost feel my organs shutting down…one by one. My vision was starting to blur. I could vaguely see Skye rummaging around in a draw and fishing out what looked to be gold coins; Golden drachmas. _To pay the ferryman…_

"Father I love you" my daughters both spoke in unison. I tried to laugh but all I could muster was a grunt. I took Skye's hand in my other arm, now holding them both on either side, the two most important girls in my life after my wife. I tried to clear my throat as I spoke my final words.

"I love you too my dears...goodbye…Annabeth…I'm coming". And then I closed my eyes. All the strength I was holding on to, to keep my heart beating was no longer needed. I lay there in deaths warm embrace waiting to be rejoined with my one and only. My love.


	2. On the Island

Chapter 2

From there I somehow was granted Elysium. I don't know how considering how much I had fucked up my life. Maybe my father had helped I don't know but I was granted nevertheless. I declined though; I chose rebirth. I suppose it was my way of trying to honour the only promise I still could keep to my darling wife; that we would try for rebirth and maybe find each other again. It was known among the dead that once we were reborn we would still be subconsciously drawn to each other, just without knowing why. It would be like discovering a love again, without all the baggage of a past. The second life was wonderful. My name was James Crow and I was a son of Zeus. Annabeth was Carmen Poras and was a daughter of Aphrodite. We found each other when we were 13 years old while on the run, trying to get to camp half blood. Our satyr guide was killed by a Fury so we were on our own and had to get there ourselves. All we had were the directions that the dying satyr had given us. We fell in love on the way and by the time we were 14, we were already together and would stay that way for another 70 years. We had a long, peaceful life together…no thrills…no interruptions, just us and obviously, our children.

Our third life was a little harder, fraught with fighting and war. Another Titan War had broken out and we were both called to fight. I was Karl Trent a son of Aries, so naturally I was in the front line. I died about a year in. I was 15 years old. I had no idea at the time but the hero of the war, 21 year old Ruby Raze, was a distant relative of Percy Jackson. 500 years later and my family were still bringing out heroes. Lila Ashton, Annabeths third self, lived till the end. She was a daughter of Artemis, one of the only daughters of Artemis for over 2000 years. She was famous among the Half Bloods. Lila and I were friends but nothing more. I had no time with her to make it any more than what it was; friendship. She lived until she was 34, when an empousai attacked her in a shopping centre. She could normally have fought him off, but she was surprised. The first blow killed her, and she was sent to the underworld. We all had our last chance.

I drank from the pool of memory and I remembered what I was. I finally could see what was missing my life. Well my last one anyway. As I waited to be put through judgement and exist eternally in the Isle of the Blest, standing beside me was the one person I cared about most, the one person I had waited 500 years to spend eternity in death with. Annabeth Chase. Now that we had memories of who we were we decided to use our old names. It seemed appropriate seeing as it was the first time we fell in love. Now we had drunk from the pool of memory, we also took a different form. We were the best parts of all our selves. I kept my jet black hair of my original self but had the strength and warrior prowess of my son of Aries life. I was a little taller and had toned muscles but not too large. Physically my son of Zeus self was hidden, except my sky blue eyes. Annabeth had her storm grey eyes still but she now also had the same jet black hair as me, just like she had from her last life as a daughter of Artemis. She was the same height as me and had perfectly toned muscles and looked strong, her body held the same ethereal beauty as her daughter of Aphrodite life. We were our perfect selves. We held hands in the waiting line without saying a word. We didn't need to. We had just spent 3 lifetimes with each others company I'm pretty sure we knew what the other would say. Before long we were brought before judgement and faced trial. We decided to go together so if one of us failed, we both failed. We didn't want to be apart ever again. It took all of 15 minutes to be granted into the Isle of the Blest. We embraced, we kissed and we were escorted by Skeleton guards to our final resting place. We would reside there for eternal retirement.

For years we existed there. We had all the fun that we used to. We sat on the beach, talked, made love and did all the things that a normal couple would do. The Isle of the Blest is almost never made so we lived almost alone save a few really great men and woman. Only a few hundred spirits were on the island: Really great people; Einstein, Newton, JK Rowling etc. A few hundred years into this existence and my own daughter came in. Skye was escorted onto the island and crashed into my arms when she saw us both. She looked different, well we all did, but we both knew it was her. She told me Ariana had chosen to go straight to Elysium so she wouldn't be joining us. I didn't mind. I was happy that she made Elysium. So we were all happy living as a family and were content in our own little piece of forever until suddenly, out of nowhere everything changed.

"Mother!". My daughter ran over to Annabeth and sat next to her. She was wearing a cream coloured cardigan covering a light blue sleeveless shirt. She also wore a white skirt that billowed out in the wind. The breeze gently breathed on her, making her now ebony coloured hair flail back.

Being the highest reward for having three Elysium achieving lives, the Isle of the Blest had all the features of a real island: A synthetic sun, a cool breeze blowing around and total seclusion. It was a paradise. I had lived on the island for over 100 years.

"Yes dear" Annabeth replied. She had her eyes looking over towards the sea. The water was clear and you could see the light from the fake sun reflecting off the water. In the distance I could see Elysium, huge walls surrounding the city like a box. Beyond that were the five rivers of Hades and the fields of Asphodel, and more horrifyingly, the Fields Of Punishment. As happy as we were here we still couldn't help but feel a tad sorry for the souls that hadn't made it. Annabeths eyes never left the water when she spoke to her child. Well I say child, here we took upon the age of what ever we want to be. We were both wearing our 20 year old selves, or what you could assume was 20.

"Isaac was wondering if you wanted to play chess with him again.". she looked at her quizzically?

"Chess?" she said "Does he like losing?" I chuckled. There was something about the idea of a man that discovered gravity losing a to Annabeth over and over again that I found amusing. Skye shrugged.

"I don't know mom…maybe he's just bored again". Annabeth looked like she was thinking it over again.

"Tell him I'll be at his house later if he wants but for now I'm busy" Skye copped an eyebrow.

"Busy? we are on an Island where nothing ever happens eternally existing with all the time in the world. How can you be busy?" she scowled.

"Easily" she rolled her eyes. I could see a grin forming at the corner of her mouth. I could sense she was planning something very stupid. I smiled.

"What are you planning dear?" I asked rolling my eyes like she had a few seconds ago. Skye looked totally confused. Annabeths smile got even wider.

"Well" she started. "When Skye first arrived and she told me about Ariana I thought to myself wouldn't it be nice to see her once last time…so…well I talked to some of the smarter people on this island"

"Hey I'm smart…ish" I joked. Annabeth laughed and punched me on the shoulder. I waited for her to continue.

"So yeah basically I talked to some smart people and they figured out a way to sneak me into Elysium. It took a long time and a lot of planning trust me…anyway the point is I got in and I talked to her". My eyes widened. My wife had spoke to Ariana and never told me.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I asked slightly annoyed. "I would have come with you". Her smile faded slightly.

"It was a little dangerous Percy. I didn't want to endanger you". I thought for a second. It took my a while to realise what she actually meant

"Dangerous? We are already dead Mom!" Skye raised her voice. She was always a little touchy about her sister. One of the most protective siblings you would ever meet. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Skye…there are a lot worse things than death." I kept my eyes looked into hers which was hard, as they were the most striking blue. Her expression became softer and I gestured for Annabeth to continue.

"So in the end we devised a plan. Using the unlimited resources set in this island, me and a few other people, started to make a rope, a very long rope. We used metal wire to create this rope so that it would be stiff and wouldn't just flop and bend like it normally would. After what I could only assume was a few years of working, the rope was complete and I tied the end around an arrow. Using a bow I shot an arrow across the water and towards the walls of Elysium…using the rope I-" I sat patiently listening to her story but I could tell she probably would get onto a tangent soon and I interrupted her to get her to hurry the story along".

"Annabeth we don't need to know the entire story" I laughed. "Just get to the good bit. So I guess you got into Elysium…how was Ariana?". Annabeth looked at me, obviously a little miffed that I had just stopped her from completing her tale. She looked down into the sand and then back up at me.

"She's doing well Percy. She's living with her husband in a nice roman style villa on the edge of the city. She's happy..." Annabeth hesitated. The grin she had earlier was starting to come back.

"…She also was wondering if you wanted to come round for dinner today…I just got post from her" she said waving a letter in her hand. In the last 30 years, Hades had installed a postal service so that we could contact anyone anywhere in the Underworld. Letters took forever to send but at least we could talk to each other. In shock at the news just given to me, I gasped. I hadn't seen her face since I was alive as Percy Jackson. I had failed that life but was still granted a chance to reincarnate. I could not help but feel my father gave me a second chance.

"To-today?" I stuttered. I could not believe it. I looked at my wife disbelievingly. This was more than I could ever ask for…another chance to see my darling daughter again. I looked across the water again.

"Yes today Seaweed Brain wasn't you listening?" she smiled. I loved it when she smiled. I felt relaxed.

"Ok…but how will we get there…I hope your not thinking of-" then it hit me. it was so obvious I could have slapped myself.

"We are just going to walk aren't we?" I said rolling my eyes. Being a son of Poseidon at some point meant that I could pretty much hold the water up like Moses parting the Red Sea and simply walk through. While technically we weren't allowed to leave the island, there would be no-one to stop us. Who would want to leave the Isle of the Blest, and where would a spirit go? No security is wanted because it's not thought to be needed. Skye beamed at Annabeth, looking teary eyed as Annabeth beamed back. She then turned her head back at me.

"Of course we are". I couldn't stop smiling. I picked up a handful of sand in my palm and let it drain out again like an hourglass onto the beach. Skye rested her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and stayed still for a few moments knowing that's all she wanted. I took a deep breath; all this time Annabeth waited patiently for an answer. That's the advantage of knowing someone for so long. We don't need to talk as much to tell the other what we are thinking. Most of the time we don't need to talk at all.

"Ok Annabeth. Let's go" I got up, pulling Skye to her feet. Annabeth stayed sat down with her mouth open. She was obviously not expecting that.

"Um…err….sorry?". I smiled, walked over to her and offered my hand.

"I said, let's go Wise Girl. We might as well I'm getting tired of this Island I need some new scenery". Annabeth grabbed my hand and I pulled her up. Skye stood beside me with a frown on her face; she's not exactly comfortable with mine and Annabeths PDA.

"Suck it up!" I jibed. Skye smiled and walked away from the beach towards where our house was.

"Where you going?" I shouted towards her.

"Where do you think?" she called back. I rolled my eyes. She obviously inherited her attitude and wit from her mother.

"Ok rephrase that, _why_ are you going back to our house?" She stopped in her tracks for a moment. She was a few hundreds yards away and I could still see a small tear forming in her eye. She looked away to try and disguise it and wiped her face with her sleeve. I wanted to go and put my arm around her, give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be fine but I knew she didn't want it. She was strong and didn't want to be pitied. She looked to the side as she talked.

"I…I'll be a few minutes stay there I'll be right back". Her voice quivered. She hesitated again which was unlike her. I'd have to ask about that later. I just nodded.

"Fine…I'll wait for you…don't be long". She skipped up the beach and ran for the house.

"I won't Dad!". She called back. Then she was gone. Me and Annabeth waited on the beach for her.

"Don't worry about her" Annabeth said softly, wrapping her arms around me. "She's just scared…we all are." She looked me in the eyes. I lent in to kiss her. The moment our lips met, I could feel my body melting. Its been hundreds of years and I still cant resist her touch. She passionately kissed back and I could feel my hairs standing up on end. We only broke away from each other when I heard someone clearing their throat behind us. Skye stood there with the most uncomfortable look Id ever seen. Both me and Annabeth laughed and stuck our tongues out.

"So immature" She whispered. We laughed some more. I took Annabeths hand then walked to my daughter to take hers. We stood at the edge of the water on the sand for a few minutes, relaxing our bodies and taking in the Sea Air. Finally Annabeth said.

"Ready?".

"No" I replied smiling. "But I won't get any readier".

We took a deep breath together and finally walked towards the waters edge.


	3. Elysium

**I would like to apologise to all my readers for how long it has taken for me to release another chapter of my story. I have been so busy recently that I have not had the time to work on my writing. I would Like to thank Catherine P for helping me with my work and for making continueing with my writing possible.**

Chapter 3

Elysium

I sat beside the walls of Elysium for what seemed like an eternity. Annabeth sat beside me holding my hand while Skye stood up, fidgeting with her hands and shaking nervously. I tried to give her a reassuring smile but she was too jittery to notice. Annabeth turned to me and gave me her smile and looked me in the eyes. Her grey eyes seemed to almost see through me; like she knew exactly what I was thinking and knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.

"Don't worry Percy" she said in a whisper. I just nodded. After a short silence I decided to speak.

"So how do we get in? We cant wait here forever". Skye stopped fidgeting, her face looked pale. I let out a breath, a breath I hadn't even realised I had been holding in.

"Relax dear" I said. She raised her eyebrows.

"Relax? How am I supposed to relax father I haven't seen her in-"

"106 years and 237 days I know". She gave an amused laugh.

"You kept count? That's weird". She turned her head slightly and blew away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. I remember back to my first life where I had forgotten even the simplest things in life, like being a father. I swore I would never do that again and made myself remember ever single detail about my family whether it was important or not.

"I never forget my family" I said in a low voice, more to myself than to her. I had hoped she wouldn't hear but I should have known better from a grand daughter of Athena. She didn't say anything but she smiled sympathetically and patted me on the shoulder. She sat down and lent back against the wall, closing her eyes. I turned back to Annabeth.

"Well?". I asked

"Well what?" she replied. Her eyes widened briefly as she remembered. "Oh yeah…well getting in isn't the hard part…its getting out. Don't worry it'll be fine I have you with me this time I'm pretty sure the three of us can handle ourselves." She got up and paced for a bit. I let myself relax for a few minutes. Skye opened her eyes again and sat up; her eyes how screaming with renewed determination. My wife smiled at me and stopped pacing.

"We ready?" she asked

"Ready as we'll ever be" Skye replied with a smile.

"Lets go" Annebeth smiled and fast as lightening she was off. I stared open mouthed as her feet ran vertically up the wall, her limbs moving so fast that she couldn't possibly fall. Skye ran up next a few seconds later, following her mother up the hill. I could hear the cracking of rock and stygian concrete as their feet hammered into the wall as they made their way up. I gulped. This wasn't exactly something I felt confident doing. I took a quick glance round and realised I was still near the Sea.

Okay, so it may be cheating but what the hell. I let my mind drift to the water and summoned it to wash around my feet. I lifted each of my feet up in turn and poured more water under my feet, allowing me to float. I let more and more force its way under, my own power being the only reason so much was able to pool there. The pressure was mounting. I looked up to the top of the wall where Annabeth and Skye were looking back down. It was a long way up but I could still make out Skye's blinding smile. I could hear Annabeths sniggers from the bottom of the slope.

"Whats the matter Percy!" she called with a taunting edge to her voice. I heard the faint laugh again.

"Afraid of heights?" Skye laughed loudly. The two of them gave me a wave and made to walk away from the edge of the wall. I gave myself a slight smirk before letting loose the power of the Sea in a short wave of my hand. The sudden loss of pressure forced the water to blast me skyward. I used my power to guide my accent. Being a son Zeus as well as a son of Poseidon gave me the ability to manipulate the air currents so I could practically glide through the air.

I had overshot the wall by a good ten or more metres but I simply let myself float to the floor, not that I needed to as I cant possibly hurt myself due to my current predicatment. I didn't even need to keep my eyes open. When I felt my feet touch the hard ground I opened my eyes and smiled. Skye's figure was in front of me. She rolled her eyes and walked back to her mother who was a few paces behind her.

"Show off" I heard her mutter. I took a few steps to the other side of the wall

The walls of Elysium stretched around the city like a medieval gate system. Where the climb was short from the other side, this side of the wall the drop was a mile or more down. Four gates, one on each side of the squarish formation of the city let new inhabitants in and allowed messengers to get in and out of the city to deliver their messages. The city grew by itself, the walls pushing out every time there was a new addition to the population. The place was so large that normal eyes would never be able to see all the way to the other side; in human terms the city was probably over 2000 miles long each side.

The only reason I could is because I'm not alive. Dead eyes can see everything. It would be a useful skill it it wasn't for the fact I was forever in a place where the biggest danger was ordering the wrong meal at the canteen. I gasped as I saw the huge expanse of houses that were scattered below me. There were houses from every era; Roman, medieval, Victorian, Georgian, Ancient Greek. There were many others I didn't quite know about but that didn't matter to me. I glanced over to Annabeth and saw her eyes sparkle. All this architecture must be sending her brain into overdrive. This was her element and it was gratifying to see that after all these years her love of architecture and construction had not diminished one bit.

I looked back to the city noticing that each house had about an acre of garden. The smell of flowers drifted with the breeze and I inhaled. Annabeth winked at me. We all knew exactly what to do next. Skye went first. She ran full stride and somersaulted down the wall. I stepped closer to the edge and watched her gracefully cut through the air as she arched to the ground.

"Now who's showing off" I muttered. Annabeth laughed and before I could react she playfully pushed me off the edge off the wall and I was falling. Now I should explain that being dead it doesn't matter what height I jump from I will still hit the floor completely unharmed with no bones broken, no pain caused not even a scratch. I had learnt this when I accidentally fell off a cliff edge in the Isle of the Blest when I was climbing (I was bored). So as I plummeted to the floor I was not afraid. It was exhilarating. I heard a familiar exhilarated laugh above me and Annabeth Appeared next to me and grabbed my hand.

God knows how she done that. It was Probable one of her daughter of Athena calculations of trajectory and speed or whatever. I could see the faint figure of Skye below me…and then she stopped; she had touched down. I noticed that the ground was getting closer and closer and I prepared me feet to meet the floor. I may not be able to be hurt but I still don't want to land looking like a total idiot. Annabeth would never let me hear the end of it…or my daughter for that matter. I could feel the wind whistling past me and I heard Annabeth whooping. Just seconds to go…1…2…3!

My feet hit the stony ground with a crack. I could hear the rock straining with the force that the two of us had hit the floor. Still we stood there hand in hand and then we looked around. Skye was sitting on a wooden stool next to a wooden house with a nail file.

"Nice of you to join me" she smirked before adding "Well that was fun". Then she turned to her mother.

"So…where we going now? I sure has hell don't know my way around here". I looked around. We were on a road adjacent to the main wall lined with a mixture of wooden and brick houses. Now we were at ground level the smell of roses and tulips were unmistakable.

"Well…I suppose we'll have to ask around wont we?" Annabeth replied.

"Right…shouldn't you know since you have been here before?" Annabeth scowled and waved her finger in the air making a tut tut gesture before answering.

"My dear daughter you should know these things...Elysium is an ever growing city. The layout changes itself every ten or so mortal years. Last time was hear was about fifty years ago so-"

"All right mum I get the picture! Jeez!". The two of us laughed while Annabeth blushed. Some things just never change. Annabeth took in a deep breath and tried to wipe the embarrassed grin off her face. She failed miserably and shook her head in defeat.

"I hate you..." she muttered. I put my arm around her waist and looked into her eyes.

"No you don't I whispered into her ear and then I kissed her softly on the neck.

"Whoa guys I don't want to see this" I heard Skye's voice call. She held her arms in front of her face and looked away struggling not to laugh.

"Gods know how I wasn't emotionally scarred as a child." she said while placing her arms on her hips. Her black hair fell over her eyes and she whipped her head back to move it. A light breeze blew gently making our cloths flutter.

"So where to Wise Girl?" I jibbed. She replied by elbowing me in the ribs and pointing towards the centre of the city.

"I don't know Seaweed Brain but I can say with some degree of certainty its that way somewhere". I rolled my eyes.

"Oh that's comforting" she held her hand to signal for me not to talk.

"What I mean is that this city is built out ever decade so that means that Ariana lives at least a few hundred miles farther in...what we need to look for, is a subway and when we get off we just hail a cab and-" Skye cut in and sniggered.

"A cab? Seriously...in Elysium. This is the land of the dead not New York". Annabeth glared at her daughter and she shrank back slightly.

"Yes a CAB. What? Don't you think somewhere as civilised as Elysium would have a form of public transport. This place is over 2000 miles long you think people just walk around?" She huffed in frustration. I forgot how irritated she got when people interrupted her. Annabeth seemed to realise she was making a scene and hung her head slightly.

"Sorry" she muttered. "Anyway as I was saying we'll take a cab and they will take us where we want to go" she turned around and gestured for us to follow her. I looked at my daughter and shrugged my shoulders. Both knew this was going to be a long day

I tapped my fingers lightly against the table. The silence in the room was excruciating. For 2 hours we had been sitting here waiting for news. Hephaestus slumped back into his chair in the corner. Aphrodite sat beside him, combing her hair in front of a mirror she was holding up with her free hand. Athena was quiet in the other corner of the room, grooming an owl that she had perched on a small table. Artemis sat next to me with a bored expression on her face. The room was dark and foreboding; a hollowed out part of a mountain where we could all hide. We were not used to existing like this...hiding. Gods shouldn't need to hide but alas we did.

The world was changing. Zeus had grown corrupt and greedy with power and now anyone who disobeyed him or even voiced an opinion against him was banished. Hephaestus was the first to go. Zeus wanted weapons and armour for a war against Poseidon but he said no. He said Poseidon had done nothing to provoke such an assault and that he was having no part in a war he saw no sense in. Zeus banished from the face of the earth and vowed that if he ever saw his face, he would kill him. When other spoke against his actions they too were cast from Olympus, except Athena, who, seeing her fathers growing corruption, chose to leave.

In the years that followed, Athena struck an unlikely Alliance with Poseidon and rallied the scattered gods into a cohesive unit. For over a hundred years a war has raged between those Allied with Zeus and those Allied with the Outlaw gods. I joined around 30 years ago. The gods had forgot to free me from my prison after Percy made them promise. Zeus probably didn't forget but ignored the order.

The other gods probably assumed Zeus had kept his word and forgot to check on me. I cant blame them, there was a lot to do after the second Titan war and things can easily be forgotten. Athena came to fetch me a few after a while. It seemed to be that they needed all the help they could get and were happy to recruit my services. They must be desperate.

If you have not guessed yet my name is Calypso, daughter of Atlas and Lieutenant of the Outcast Alliance. It took a while for me to gain the complete trust of the Gods but now they treat me completely as if I were one of their own. My main job is to interact with the mortals on the ground and try to gain any information that may be useful to the war. Being a daughter of Atlas and a minor goddess most half bloods don't recognise me so it makes it easier to go incognito when needed. It's dangerous but it cant be any worse than being stuck on house arrest for eternity.

Hephaestus made a huffing sound and sat up from his chair.

"How much longer will he be?" he complained. Sparks erupted from his beard and he held his head in his arms. Athena stopped grooming her owl and gracefully walked towards the Fire god, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past.

"Patience brother…he won't be long now. I can sense him". Athena then sat down on one of the wooden chairs surrounding the main table in the middle of the room. The wood was ornately decorated with seemingly Greek design carving patterns, obviously an antique that had been salvaged. She whistled quietly to nothing in particular and the owl flew from its perch, over the table and landed comfortably on her shoulder.

I heard the door creek and my head snapped towards the door. I could sense everyone else doing the same, anticipated the arrival of the lord of the sea. When we saw who it was our shoulders slumped slightly. Artemis slowly walked in. She looked at me sceptically and I stood up.

"Sorry Lady Artemis I didn't mean…err how your journey was?" I rushed out anxious not to offend the goddess of the hunt. She simply waved her hand dismissively.

"Relax Calypso I know what you meant…still no word from Poseidon I see. Not to worry. In answer to your question, I've been through Hades and back. I ran into 3 drakons on the way down here. I thought there was only one in creation but somehow Zeus has managed to form more. Killed quite a few of my best hunters…" she looked down sadly. I smiled sympathetically

"I'm sorry Artemis. I'm sure they will go to Elysium"

"Zeus will go to Tartarus for this!" she said through clenched teeth. Her face betrayed nothing; completely blank with suppressed emotion but I could see in her eyes that if Zeus was in the room right now he would have a hard job containing her. Artemis wanted blood. A stray tear formed in her eye and she turned away before any of the other gods could notice.

I did. It was a testament to how bad a time we were in when a God could be brought to tears. She strode to the empty chair next to Athena and sat down; though her tolerance of men had drastically improved (necessarily since half of the outcast alliance was made of gods), her trust was still not completely sated and she only sat with the goddesses when in council.

Another creek sounded from the door and this time a sigh of relief released from every immortals lips as Poseidon strode into the room. I took to my seat immediately in anticipation of the meetings opening. The God seemed to look weathered and tired. His eyes held no hint of joy they had done in previous years. He held his trident in his left hand but from his stance it seemed as if it was weighing him down. He did not look well.

He hadn't looked well for a while. None of us have been brilliant but he looked absolutely awful. Everyone in the room went silent as the sea lord strode into the room and leant against the wall. He seemed to notice the general mood of the room and put down his trident, leaning it against one of the walls and taking the seat at the head of the table.

"I'm fine" he said flatly to the table. Typical god I thought, Always playing things as if they are not serious. Poseidon did NOT look fine. I brushed a few strands of hair from in front of my face and looked him dead in the eye. He looked as if his soul had been crushed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened? Your never late for council especially one as important as this…you look like you have been through hell and back."

"Watch it Calypso" Athena's voice warned.

"No it's ok Athena. I think you all should know anyway…Oceanus." Poseidon said simply.

"Ah" I realised. The titan of the Ocean has resurfaced. As if things were not already totally fucked. Now we had to deal with yet another problem. This also meant that Poseidon was unlikely be available that often any more. Poseidon was a big loss.

"He struck my Palace when my half blood sons were visiting. They just came to see the new aquarium and…" he seemed to struggle to get the next words out. As if they were stuck in his throat. "two of them were killed…I managed to get my youngest to safety but I couldn't save the others. Then the monsters came and its been all out war for days. I could only just get away to come here I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner." The immortals in the room faces fell mine included.

"Im sorry for your loss" Athena said quietly. She had her head in her hands and she hit the table in frustration. Our eyes collectively widened in surprise. This was very UN-Athena like.

"My father will pay for this" Athena spat.

"Easy Athena" Poseidon said. He waved his hand and a tablet that appeared to be made of limestone appeared in front of him.

"Well" he smiled weakly. "Let's get this show on the road. Zeus has been increasing his attacks steadily over the past hundreds of years. More natural disasters, more monster attacks on half bloods...even mortals are getting a bit of it. Unexplained disappearances have increased 20 times in the past 50 years alone. Clearly he's making a big play here. Since Zeus took over camp half blood 74 years ago, as you all already know, he's been brainwashing his own army of half bloods. We have tried to protect as many as we can but there are far too many to really police all the time. Zeus's half bloods seem to be massing in New York. Athena can you make any sense of this?" he asked and Athena sat up straight in her chair to face Poseidon to reply.

"From what I have heard, and from what I can speculate from what I have seen, Zeus is making a move to attack the half bloods that are allied with us. With them out the way it would pretty much finish us off. We can't intervene due to our stupid ancient laws-"

"Screw the laws we're already doomed" I heard Hephaestus mumbled and Athena turned to glare at him.

"We don't know what will happen if we break the law brother…there are far worse things than death."

"Humph" Hephaestus looked like he wanted to protest but he just looked blankly back at the goddess of wisdom and pursed his lips, small sparks of embers jumping from his untidy beard. Poseidon looked on thoughtfully. From what I could gather things were currently hopeless. With no half bloods to carry the fight to Zeus on the ground, we had no way of influencing what appears to be a losing war. After what appeared to be an age of silence, Poseidon finally opened his mouth to speak. He turned to me.

"Lady Calypso, do you have anything to report? How are things on the ground?"  
I thought for a minute. In truth nothing special had happened which probably in itself was news because the past few years things had been hectic with disaster after disaster and disaster…you get the idea. Even though overall disasters were increasing over the last year or so things were quietening down…almost like Zeus was waiting for something.

"Quiet..." I spoke softly. "The world below has largely been repairing the damage from previous years, new buildings, new governments etc. Largely that's the point, its previous years damage. The storms have quelled and there doesn't seem to be any large incidents occurring or likely to occur soon. It's almost like he's waiting for something…don't ask me what I'm not a strategist. All I can assume is that its not like Zeus to suddenly stop his destruction. I believe you are right Athena. Zeus wants to wipe us out completely now, take away our half blood protectors, and eliminate us."

"Don't wo-" held her palm up to silence me and I obliged. Her face had changed from frustrated thinking to almost a smile. She had an idea. The smile slowly grew wider. The twinkle in her eye told me all I needed to know. The idea was crazy and probably against all laws our forefathers had created for ourselves but that was ok. We needed crazy.

"Athena what are you thinking" Poseidon questioned. There was mock warning in his tone, the tone of a man that knew that now there was a lifeline, a dangerous lifeline that no matter how mad it was he, and every god in this room would try simply because they had to.

"Well…" she started hesitantly. She looked at everyone in the room in turn letting her piercing grey eyes rest on each person in turn; making sure everyone was mentally ready for whatever she was planning. "There is one person who always used to get the job done...well two actually…no matter how bad the situation was they were unstoppable. They undertook any challenge and came over every obstacle. Even I don't know how they achieved some of the things they did. I think you know who I'm talking about here Poseidon." He simply nodded. He pursed his lips. I could tell he was trying to decipher what Athena was trying to say but he couldn't, no-one could. This is the mind Athena

"Well as you know they chose rebirth after they died and eventually were granted sanctuary in the Isle of the Blessed after 3 Elysium worthy lives. Its been hundreds of years since we last saw them." Athena's eyes didn't seem to be looking at anyone at this point; her expression almost daydreaming as if even she knew what she was about to propose was almost ridiculous. "They will know what to do" she said in a level tone.

Poseidon cocked his head curiously, his weathered face confused. "What exactly do you mean? He questioned. "How can they help us...they are dead. We are gods if we cant fix our own mess how are spirits from the underworld going to be of any use. What advice can they give us that we don't already know?" His tone was starting to get irritable. "They have been out of the world of the living for over 500 years how are they going to know anything about what is happening to the world right now!" Athena stood up with an angry look on her face. Poseidon recoiled in reflex. Athena angry was a scary prospect for anyone, god or human.

Athena's expression made Poseidon unconsciously recoil and the corners of her mouth turned upwards in triumph as the sea lord shrank back. I smiled to myself slightly. Although Poseidon was the "official" leader of our Alliance, Athena was really the one in charge. It was always that way.

"I never said anything about asking for advice…we've existed for thousands of years as you said, there is nothing they can tell us we don't already know. I was thinking more on the lines of using them".

All at once the room went silent. Poseidon stared blankly forward, the expression on his face mirroring that of a man that had been hypnotised. Hephaestus suddenly started to look interested again, his bored demeanour shed almost instantaneously. I looked questioningly at Athena.

"What exactly are you proposing? Breaking them out of the underworld-"

"Impossible" Hephaestus interrupted.

"Why?" I asked. Nothing was impossible in my experience. Hades, who guessed Demigods, can slay Titans. It happened.

"Because Calypso, Hades can sense when another god is entering his domain. We can't just waltz in there and-".

"I know that _brother_ I'm not stupid" Athena spat with venom. She glanced at the group round the table with ice in her eyes and then carried on talking. "Lady Calypso?".

"Yes?" I said wearily. I wasn't totally paying attention and was surprised to find that Athena was addressing me.

"You're a relatively minor god…a nymph in fact. Hades won't sense you like he would me or Poseidon. If you…_travel_ into the…slightly _restricted_ parts of the underworld you can explain the situation to our heroes. I'm sure it won't take too much persuasion to enlist their assistance. Remember do whatever you can to get them out. This cannot fail. Once in the Underworld it won't be as simple as it sounds getting to them so…watch your back". I nodded.

"It will be done Lady Athena. I look forward to meeting them again"

"Keep your eyes on the job" Athena grinned and gave me a wink. Very un-Athena like. Poseidon chuckled slightly and cleared his throat; laying his hands on the table. A smile formed on his features and his sea green eyes almost revitalised with hope.

"You know, this might actually work…if anyone can do something, they can."

Artemis broke the silence she had been holding for much of the conversation. Her face, still stricken with grief from her recent hunter losses simply nodded in agreement to her plan. I felt a pang of sympathy for her. She had lost so much. We all had.

"So are we all in agreement?". Every face around the table nodded. Athena, Artemis, Poseidon even Hephaestus!

I was the last person to nod. Athena kept her gaze on me while saying quietly but clearly in a level voice.

"Then do it. Bring back Perseus and Annabeth Jackson".

**Haha I bet you loved that readers...want to know what happens next? keep reading and find out! :)**


	4. Family Reunion

**Sorry about the shortness of the chapter. There was more I wanted to include but I though I would give you this now rather than make you wait another week for another 2 and a half thousand words.**

Chapter 4

Finally we were there. I looked at the simply door in front of me, body full of both dread and anticipation. I hadn't seen her for years and had no idea how she would react to me. My own reflection started back at me from the warped glass on the wooden door. I felt a reassuring hand squeeze me on my left but I was barely aware of my wife's presence. I glanced to my right and my daughter gave me an encouraging smile and nodded at me to knock on the door. My neck slowly wheeled back to the door, almost in a trance. I raised my free hand, leaving my left hand in Annabeth's for support. I knocked on the door three times, the sound appearing a lot loader than it was in the silence that had enveloped us.

"Don't worry" Annabeth whispered in my ear. "You will be fine." I nodded.

"I hope so…I-". The sound of movement cut me short. My heart skipped a beat as I heard a lock turning and the door opening slightly. A familiar head materialised in the gap. She smiled at the three of us then fully opened the door. I almost gasped when she came into full view. She was exactly as I remembered her in life; jet black hair, sea green eyes and a smile that could lift the room. I never figured out why in the underworld all four or our immediate family had black hair. It was strange but that's life I suppose. She was wearing a plain white dress and although simply dressed, she looked beautiful. Her eyes were full of joy and it was plain to see she was happy by looking at her face.

"Hello Dad". She nodded at my mom "Mom…and Skye it's been too long sis"

"Only a lifetime" she breathed. Arianna smiled and gave a laugh that I hadn't heard in a long time. She raised an eyebrow at me and spoke in a light hearted tone.

"Relax father I forgave you long ago"

"Not that I deserve it…" I muttered under my breath. She just carried on smiling and held out her arms.

"Father…". She crashed into my and together we embraced. I let my emotions go. I cried on her shoulder and she patted me on the back telling me its ok, ironically temporarily taking over the role as parent. I could feel myself shaking but I didn't care. This was a happy moment for me. Finally being reunited with all my family. Well my mortal family at least. When she finally broke away from our embrace I was a wreck, but in a good way. I was with the people that mattered most to me. She hugged both my wife and other daughter to almost equal reactions. It was a very emotional reunion.

Arianna finally came away from embracing her sister and walked back to her front door.

"Come in everyone. You must have had a tiring journey." she gestured for us to walk in after her and we all followed suit. The inside was decorated simply like you would see in any mortal household. The walls were painted white and the hallway was lined with a long shelf which held a number of silver and gold ornaments with two small marble statues sitting in the middle. Athena and Poseidon. I felt a sharp tug in my stomach every time I saw pictures of them. I hadnt seen my father since the first day I entered the land of the dead. No fault of his own I suppose. There are always issues in the world that need godly attention. Even so I still felt a little neglected by my father and from the occasional looks I see in Annabeths face, she feels it too. As I walked further down the hall I noticed there were also photos from our living days on there. The day she graduated from college, one of our favourite family holidays. It was great to remember those days. Before things went down a path would leave me feeling guilty for eternity. I also saw numerous pictures of her and her husband. I didnt warm to him at first being a son of Aries but after a while I knew he was the one for her. He cares for her in ways that surprised even me. I went to the wedding a proud man. Seeing our past on view sitting on a shelf brought tears to my eyes. I wiped them away and forced myself to walk further. At the end of the 20 metre hall I turned left, following Annabeth in front of me.

I could smell the scent of freshly cooked chicken coming from behind an open door. As I entered the room I saw another familiar face standing arm in next to Arianna.

"Hello Mike." I smiled. Mike was tall, about 6'2 with heavily bulked arms, about the same size as mine. He had short spiky light brown hair and brown eyes that were both conforting and frightening. To anyone that didn't know him he looked like he would gladly kill you for looking at him wrong. Luckily I knew him differently. He grinned strongly and walked towards me to give a friendly embrace.

"Its been too long" he said as he stood back straight.

"It really has my friend" I replied. I let my eyes wander around the room. It was laid out in a kind of L shape; the room starting at the lower shorter part of the L. The kitchen tops looked be made of a kind of ivory and everything was neat. And tidy. To my right a mahogany table was readily laid out for five below a crystal chandelier. On the ceiling I noticed small outlines of rams horns and another outline of...doves? It never occurred to me that Arriana had any relation to Aphrodite. She must was have reborn once as an Aphrodite child but turned down the third rebirth. Miraculous that these two individuals have found each other twice. I laid that thought to rest and scanned the room some more.

Smoothed limestone tiles covered the kitchen floor, turning to blue carpet as it neared the open dining area. A lot like the hallway, the walls were lined with white shelves decorated with family pictures and memories. For the first time, I noticed there were a lot of pictures that I had no memory of and others that were of a girl that was Arianna but not quite. A life I was never part of. She looked happy in every single photo. I also noticed a small fountain in the corner. Two carved fish which I assumed were statues of Pisces breathing water out their mouths into a marble basin. A slights spray radiated from the area. I guessed it was for Iris messaging. I should have known demigod dead would have a more familiar method of communication than phones or letters.

Mike gestured for us to sit down at the dining table and I walked to my seat as my family walked to theirs. From the kitchen Arianna was dishing up our meals onto plates, humming while she worked.

"Ill be with you in a sec" she called to us. "I hope you like roast beef..

I smiled as did Annabeth sitting opposite me.

"I do...I thought you couldn't cook?" I asked confused. She cant cook. The last time I remember her cooking she nearly burnt down the house. Thank the gods I could put it out. More specifically, thank Poseidon.

"She cant" I heard Mikes voice chuckling behind me beforen taking a seat at the head of the table. Annabeth stifled a laugh before Arianna chuckled as well.

"Yes this is all Mike's work" she grinned while coming over to the table with steaming plates of food in her hands. She laid the first two in front of her mother and sister and went back to get the other plates. Once all the plates were laid out in front of us, she sat down in her seat next to Annabeth.

"Well what are you waiting for...eat ha-ha" Mike laughed.

We sat and ate for the first time in centuries as a family. We laughed and joked around like we always used to. Arianna recounted some of her happy memories with Mike. Their holidays together. The times they spent with their son. Mike told me all his immediate family lived close by so he and his wife could always visit their sons and grandsons whenever they wanted. We talked about our high days as a family. The time we all went to see Take That in concert and Skye got so excited she accidentally used her water powers and nearly knocked half the crowd out. When I jumped off the top of a Lighthouse and on looking mortals thought I was crazy and their hilarious bemusement when the water seemed to shape itself around her creating a cushion from the cliff-side rocks. We did a lot of those stunts back then. I know it was immature but it was something our family did and it was us at our best. We ate drank and laughed together. It couldn't really get any better for us.

Arianna and Mike went on to tell us about life in Elysium. Being in the Isle of the Blest while an eternal heaven, did cut us off from the rest of the world both dead and alive. Comparing the Island of the Blest to Elysium is much like comparing the countryside to Rome; both have their beauty shown in different ways. Elysium is busy and full of culture and the island is a country paradise, away from everything; beautiful but remote. Listening to Arianna and Mike speak I noticed how at peace they were here which was nice. They told us about the city and how everyone pretty much knew everyone. They told us about the numerous festivals each year. Apparently recently Michael Jackson did a gig at Elysium's Coliseum, an arena built specially for music. They had everything thought of down here. News of the outside world sometimes seeped down to the underworld when new dead arrived. Apparently there was another war going on. That didn't sound good. Arianna told us how she was now an important architect in Elysium, constantly building new houses for the newly deceased. We all smiled at that. She took her mothers brains.

After the meal we were all led into another room just off the hall; a lounge area. This room was a little smaller than the kitchen/lounge area but a little larger than each part on their own. There were two couches, one on the back wall, one on the side. The one on the back wall was light silver with blue lines running through it. Respect for Athena without forgetting Poseidon. The other was a plain warm brown colour, obviously in reference to Mike's father. We all sat down and carried on talking. Reminiscing was something we hadn't been able to do for a long time together and we did a lot of it. At some point Arianna left the room to get us desert; a chocolate sponge and custard.

"So how are you three getting on. I bet the Island of The Blest must be a complete paradise." Arianna asked, running her hand through her hair. She had relaxed herself on the silver sofa, resting her head on Mikes shoulder.

"It's an amazing place." I agreed.

"Maybe one day we can break you of here and show your round?" Annabeth smiled at her daughter." Arianna raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Getting out of here is a lot harder than getting in…as your going to find out in a few hours."

"Yeah lets not think about that now" I said happily. "We can take care of ourselves anyway during the Titan War-"

"Here we go…" Skye rolled her eyes and everyone in the room laughed. Our laughing stopped when we heard the door knock. The rooms mood changed from exuberance to nervous silence. I didn't know what the punishment for escaping your resting pace was but I didn't really want to find out

"Shit" Mike muttered. "Ok guys go out into the garden Ill go and see who it is."

I took in a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The pain in my chest was excruciated. I slumped my head onto the wooden door. I hoped I got the right address. Blood was dripping from my lip onto the floor and I could barely stand. Nothing a bit of ambrosia and nectar wouldn't cure but for now I just had to hold on.

I heard movement behind the door. As I lifted my head the door opened slightly but only ajar. I heard a male voice I was unfamiliar with call out.. he sounded nervous and wary. I thought that was unusual considering where he was. What's there to worry about here in Elysium. I shoved that thought away. If what I thought was correct (and it usually is) then his tone of voice was probably normal.

"Who is it?" the voice called.

I could hear my ragged breath and took a second to collect myself before speaking. I tried to speak but all that came out was a scratchy sound where my throat had given out over the journey.

"Are you ok?" I heard his voice again but I could barely hear it. My vision was blurring and it was becoming increasingly difficult to think clearly.

It was harder to break into this place than I thought. It nearly cost me my life. I would question whether it was worth it but this is Percy and Annabeth Jackson. They are worth a hundred of me. A second time I tried to speak and surprisingly managed to get a sentence out.

"Calypso...I need to speak to Percy and Annabeth Jackson..." I shook my head. I lost my footing and fell to the floor and a man in his mid twenties came out but I barely noticed him. A shop of pain rifled up my side. I could feel some ones arms around my shoulders.

"Arianna help me here I think she's going to-" I didnt hear the rest. The word went black as I lost consciousness.

_**3 hours earlier...**_


	5. Smash and Grab

**Hi Guys heres my new chapter PLEASE REVIEW. Last chapter got no reviews come on guys I dont write for the sake of it. Thank you to those who do support my works. Anywayz Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

3 hours earlier...

I walked with trepidation to the gates of the underworld. I had disguised myself as a recently deceased soul. Eyes black and unyielding, skin white as marble I looked like truly scary to those who didn't know who I was, which was the idea. As I walked through the familiar crack in the wall it sealed behind me, showing me what looked like a train platform. Charon was nowhere to be seen. At the far end I saw what appeared to be a computer panel and I walked towards it. As I got there I realised that it was a self service ticket machine. At the top was a coin slot where people dropped their drachmas to be taken their final resting place. I dint know what happened to the ferryman. I probably didn't want to either. As I turned around I noticed a train materialise itself on the platform. It seemed the darkness surrounding the room was solidifying itself to make carriages. The train looked intimidating; pure black darkness surrounded by fog. I swear I could almost see faces within the fog, tortured faces filled with pain and anguish. Within the darkness I could see the outline of bones and as the fog moved I swear there was a black cloaked man sitting at the front of the train. My suspicion was confirmed when his head slowly turned towards me. I almost recoiled at his face. Even at this distance, which was probably about a hundred metres, I could see his bony. His eyes sockets glowed blue and there was rotting skin stuck to his face. He could have been smiling or frowning. I wouldn't know. There was no mussel, almost no skin, he was a complete skeleton but not like I was used to, no, this guy freaked me out.

Seeing that, I swiftly entered the carriage as the doors silently opened. I just had to get off the platform is way too eerie for my liking. I heard a voice over a loud speaker boom from the train walls.

"Boarding 1 person, please state your destination". I couldn't see anything around me speak into so I guessed all I had to do was speak.

"Elysium". I said without thinking. No-one could go to Elysium without judgement. I mentally slapped myself. Its little mistakes like that that could determine whether this mission is a success or failure.

"I'm sorry that destination is not available at the moment. Redirecting you for judgement."

"OK" I said to myself. I looked out of what I guessed was a window although there was no glass, just an opening. The seats inside were black and gold but still seemed to be made of shadow. I guess they were.

The underworld looked different to the last time I saw it. It seemed more chaotic; molten lava flowed through the rivers instead of water. The Styx was crimson for some reason though I couldn't understand why. The world was black with despair almost...almost like a civil war had broken out. Well it made sense. The world above had been ruined why shouldn't some sense of it travel to the underworld. I saw in the distance of the window on the other side of the train an outline of white in the distance.

The walls of Elysium…

It seemed so far away I had no idea how I was going to get there. The mile high walls seemed like a thousand miles away. I pushed the pessimism out of my mind. _I cant be thinking about that right now. _I noticed the train was slowing down and I stood up, waiting for the doors to open. My grey cloaks hood fell over my eyes keeping my face in shadow. The train made no noise as it slowed down and I saw figures just outside the train sitting on the platform it was pulling into. The train finally came to a complete stop. I barely took one step onto the platform before this started to go wrong.

"Lady Calypso we've been expecting. I'm afraid your journey has to end here". I looked up to see a man in black Hades guard coats drawing a sword from his belt. A bunch of other men around him did the same. There must have been twelve or more guards drawing their weapons, all wearing black cloaks

"Orders are orders I'm afraid" he said to himself grimly. He then charged at me. I barely had time to draw my daggers before he swung is sword. I jumped out the way drawing my weapons in the process. My hood feel down and I quickly cut away the cord holding it to my body to give me extra manoeuvrability. He swung again and out the corner of my eye I could see two other guards charging into the fight. I parried the first man with one of my daggers and then spun on the other two letting my instincts do most of the work. One blade managed to catch a guard on the neck after he failed a feint. The next fell as I kicked his standing leg and let him fall into my blade on the way down. Another two charged in but I was already way ahead of them and I released my godly powers into the earth creating a tremor knocking them off balance. While they were off balance I ran over to them and jump in-between, I picked throwing knives out my pocked as I jumped and threw them. Gold dusk exploded in my face and they were gone. More kept on coming but I was quick, the rhythm of metal hitting metal filled my head as I fell another, then another, then another. Each exploded in a cloud of dust. As I fell the last guard I could see I looked around to see if I could see any more dangers. As I made to walk off the platform I felt an excruciating pain erupt from my side. I looked down to see a dagger protruding from the side of my stomach. I fell to the floor in surprise. I'm a god. Gods don't bleed. As I was crouched I looked ahead of me to see the leader of the group standing there with a grim smile on his face. He looked like he was trying to be sympathetic but every feature on his face screamed a lie. I could tell he could and would kill anyone that he was asked to.

"I'm sorry I really am. Hades has granted us weapons that can kill anyone god or mortal. I regret that you are to be the first casualty of a war that you should never be part of. What do you owe the Olympians? They imprisoned you just for being who you are. No matter. Goodbye Calypso."

I used all the strength I had to get up. Blood was now dripping from my mouth. My limbs were shaking from shock. I looked the man dead in the eye as I spoke.

"Fuck you" I said as I pulled the knife from my skin. Blood dripped onto the white platform floor from both my wound and the dagger itself. The man turned and walked away off the platform as I got up. I gripped the knife with renewed determination. I feel the ground shake below me, anger exuding from my body in waves. I spat blood on the floor, a metallic taste staining my mouth. As the man was nearing the exit I braced myself and threw the knife as hard as I could with as much hatred as I could. The blade flew faster than the average eye could see. Next thing I know, I saw a hilt sticking out of his shoulder as his entire body was thrown backwards. I heard his body hit the ground with a crack. I would have walked over to finish him off but I felt weak; the gradual loss of blood fatiguing my limbs and mind. I watched as he slowly got up off the ground, a dazed look in his eyes. He pointed at me with his finger as he rose.

"Your time is coming to and end. Soon all there will be is smoke and ashes and the last of Olympian civilisation will be gone" he wheezed. He turned away from me and staggered out of site. Only now did I really have the opportunity to think. Hades and Zeus knew I was coming. That's bad. This fight was just a warm up compared to what was waiting for me elsewhere.

"Time to move again...why are things like this never simple" I said to myself

I could finally see the scale of the Elysium walls. Why couldn't they be on the island like normal people? I've never known anyone to leave, even to see a loved one. Earlier as I fought to get into the Island of the Blest, I was expecting to see the couple at their final home, only when I got there I was told by Albert Einstein they had left to see their daughter in Elysium. I thought that was crazy. That WAS crazy. Breaking out of the Island wasn't the hard part though looking around it who would want to. Its like Ogygia but ten times more beautiful. It has everything and everything you could ever want. The air smelt of honeysuckle and the colours and variety of the vegetation was beautiful.

Breaking out wasn't the problem. Breaking back in was. To get in I had to fight nearly 30 guards. I was no small feat these were the most well trained guards I had ever come across which makes me wonder just how well informed Hades had been to my arrival. I had come away with a few new injuries too. A cut stretched down from my thigh to my knee oozing blood and stinging slightly when I walked. I had numerous grazes on my face and a deep cut near my right eye. I felt drained but I carried on. This had to be done. The walls looked daunting and there was only one way in. I couldn't climb them or go under them. I had to go through them. Three miles away and the walls looked like mountains. I gripped tightly to my blades as I prepared myself for the most insane thing I had done all day. I was going to start a fight with over a hundred people.

"I'm sorry you're not supposed to be-". He never finished as I cut the gate mans throat, spilling dust into the air like a cloud. I could hear the scraping of metal on metal as every guard within 200 metres drew their weapon.

"Shut the gates!" I heard his companion shout and he gestured to the gatehouse. With that I threw myself towards the entrance to the city with all my might. I ignored all pain in my body and rolled underneath the falling gate a fraction of a second before it hit the floor. I looked up just in time to see a guard notice my arrival and draw swing his sword at me. I caught it with my left blade and thrust the other sword to his stomach. He jumped out of the way and out of the corner of my eye I could see another man making to stab at my midriff. I jumped out the way and used my right arm to carry the momentum of my attacker forward, impaling the man who I was just engaging. He opened his mouth in shock as the sword ran him through. I cut the mans head off then turned my attention to the now open again gatehouse.

Men had started to pour through it and were drawing bows and guns. I ran to the nearest house and ran up the wall, using my body's weight to thrust myself into the air. My godly power allowed me to stay aloft slightly longer than was humanly possible and I landed right into the middle of a very surprised group of soldiers. The nearest to my Cut his head off and threw his body into the man behind him. I turned around quickly to be staring down the barrel of a gun pointing at my head. Instinctually I grabbed his gun and yanked it away before he could fire it, the bullet whizzing into a man behind me, hearing the satisfying sound of his body drop. I heard the sound of snapping strings quickly overpowered by the charged bangs as guns and arrows were fired towards me; the initial shock of my charge gone. I didn't need prompting. I ran. I used my agility and speed to duck in between the attackers, just hoping that none of their shots were accurate enough to hit me. I could feel every muscle in my body work, my mind ignoring the pain of my injuries. Every time my blades hit another, the vibrations shot up my arm.

Before long there were no more attackers to be seen, just piles of cloths where their bodies once were. Before I could relax properly I heard footsteps coming from one of the side streets. I sighed to myself. _Won't this ever end?_ I quickly dived into one of my side streets and clicked my fingers, my cloak appearing back on my body, hood covering my eyes. Houses lined the side of the street, all of different styles and eras. One of the houses I passed looked almost barbarian, thatched roof and walls made of clay. I noticed a man milling outside in what looked like a fur coat. Gaelic I guessed. Further on from him was another house, a modern looking building with smoke coming from a chimney. Outside of it was a small garden full of flowers and shrubs. A teenage girl I thought I recognised was tending the plants. On the Above her was a teenager about the same age; 15-16. I moved on knowing that I was pretty sure I had just seen Beckendorf and Selena at their final home. I had never met them but I had heard stories. They were both regarded as heroes of the Titan war though little was really known about them. I would have stopped to chat but alas there was no time.

I kept moving in case anyone saw me. I was sure I was still being looked for, the only reason for not being found being the fact that I had taken to using the small roads not the busy areas. It was starting to get dark, the 'sky' turning a dark blue to imitate night. People in their various houses switched on their lights. Through the windows I could see families laughing and children playing, little did they know how much of a messed up place the world had become. I could feel my body getting weaker by the step, evidence that I didn't just have simply flesh wounds and that if I don't find what I'm looking for soon, I could bleed out. My breathing was becoming more ragged and every few hundred metres I would stumble off balance, each time getting to less strength than I had before.

I moved for house in between houses. Occasionally I would see Hades soldiers appearing around the sides of streets, looking for my whereabouts. Luckily most of my blood was being soaked up by my cloak so I didn't leave a trail. I had to spit Blood out of my mouth again and I could feel the cracks in my lips where it had dried on. As time wore on I could see light returning to the streets. Had I been here that long. I knew the city was big but this was ridiculous. I found myself walking beside a large park, the expanse of green stretching out on my right. I could see people walking their dogs through the railing; the gate was further up. Coming up to the park I could see another gate. _There must be one on each side_ I thought. As I continued to trek I noticed a map nailed to a large cork board, covered by a sheet of glass. _Finally some progress._ I stood in front of the map for what appeared to be an age. The map itself was nearly 3 metres wide and 2 metres tall and the scale was as scaled down as it could possible get. Just finding where I was took me ten minutes. I knew the address of where I was going due to Athena keeping me informed. I never knew why she wanted me to know this but hey, this is Athena. She covers all angles and all eventualities. I can't complain at her thoroughness. My eyes kept blurring in and out of focus as I scanned the board so it took me some time to work out where Arianna's house was.

30 minutes. I breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been any more than an hour I would be dead. 30 minutes gives me a small glimmer of hope. I took a right further up the road away from the park next to what looked like a mock up of the White House.

I just hoped I could get there in time.

**As you can see this chapter has a darker edge to it than the previous chapters. I hope you liked it it was great fun to write.**

**Please Review :) $hadowz.**


	6. Healing

**This is a really short chapter admittedly its mainly being used as an inbetween for the really plotty parts coming up. I hope you can appreciate it**

Chapter 6

I sat there on the side of the chair watching as my mother dabbed her forehead. Calypso was still and pale and caked with blood. When she had first been carried in we were all shocked. She soft spoke the words "We need you" before passing out. Arianna made a makeshift bed for her on the floor out of cushions and pillows. I felt a pang of sympathy for her. Obviously she was here for something about our family and she had nearly gotten herself killed. No-one was worth that. Not even us. My father stood stone silent in the corner almost as pale as the body before him. He flicked a drachma out of pocket and started flipping it. The concern in his eyes was obvious. I never really understood the relationship Calypso and Percy had. It was almost like ex-girlfriend and boyfriend. They would hardly ever see each other but they loved each other all the same. Mom normally got jealous but right now I understood that personally feelings were not important. My mom was boiling a few cubes of ambrosia in a saucepan to make a drink. I could see she was very week. She appeared to mutter things under her breath, incantations learned maybe from Hecate campers of even Hecate herself; she didn't know much details about her past lives except the first. My mother was deep in concentration muttering frantically. I could begin to see the wounds healing; cuts and abrasions knitting themselves together, and the popping as bones realigned themselves back into place. Calypso would have been in agony had she been conscious.

The whistling of a kettle made me jump. The ambrosia was ready. My mother then turned and spoke for the first time in an hour.

"Skye pour the ambrosia I'm going to clean her up and…". She got up and walked towards me, taking a wary glance at Dad, who could have been mistaken for a statue had we not known he was there. She took her voice down as her face levelled with mine a few inches away.

"Keep an eye on him will you" she said sounding concerned. Looking into her eyes I saw nothing but worry. Getting up to pour the golden liquid took me closer to the goddess. Seeing her up close even healed up was a shock. The cuts were gone but the bruises still stood and the blood stains remained a reminded of where her elisions had been. It made me wonder what could have done this to her. She's an immortal, a god. What could possible cause her physically injury and what was she doing here? She was obviously coming to see us. There is no way she would have knocked this door of all doors by complete fluke. There was something bigger in this. It worried me. With the cup of ambrosia ready, I carefully lowered it to the goddesses cracked lips and poured it inside slowly. I could see the colour return to her body immediately. I noticed her eyes twitch and I smiled. She was going to be all right. She was beginning the regain consciousness but it was obvious she was too tired to move so I left her. When my mom came back in the room I told her and she talked to her as she was cleaning her. Whether she was listening I don't know, but it was making Annabeth feel better so I didn't stop her.

My father still hadn't said a word. He just stood there playing with a coin. I wanted to talk to him, comfort him but I had no idea what to say. He looked pale and lifeless compared to his normal self. I heard a sigh behind me and my neck snapped back immediately. Calypso shuffled in her makeshift bed on the floor. She was starting to regain consciousness and her eyes flickered open she opened her mouth to speak but I stopped her. If she started to speak now everyone would crowd around her and want answers. She wasn't ready. I lent in slowly to her ear and whispered so my father wouldn't overhear

"Relax Calypso...you are not ready. Get some sleep we can talk later." I gave her a wink and she weakly smiled and closed her eyes. I walked out the room into the kitchen, sharing a glance with my dad. I saw pain in his eyes and weakly smiled to him._ She's going to be fine_ I mouthed to him. He smiled back for the first time in an hour, even if it was only for a second. As I strode into the kitchen, Mom and Arianna were talking next to the sink.#

"...But what could a god possible need from two dead demigods?" My mom asked my sister.

"I don't know" she said "But what other reason could she have for being here this cant be just some random chance...your a daughter of Athena, think about it"

"Yeah but..." My mom finally noticed me standing there. Her expression changed from confusion to concern in an instant.

"How is she?" she asked.

"Better...she regained consciousness for a few seconds but I told her to sleep. Last thing she needs right now is everyone asking questions and don't lie you know that is EXACTLY what you would have done" I added as Arianna looked to interrupt. My mom just sighed and shook her head.

"Well I think we should take a leaf out of her book and get some sleep ourselves."

"I whole agree mom." my sister said. She pointed to a set of stairs near the hallway. Funny though, I hadn't seen them when I came in.

"They only appear when we need them" my sister said to answer my mental question. "Saves space" she added.

"The guest rooms are straight in front of you at the top of the stairs...and don't worry, Ill keep an eye on dad" she said before walking back into the lounge. We both walked up silently together without saying a word. The house was dim from the simulated night and none of us could be bothered to switch on a light. We just walked on, The white walls on the landing where covered in portraits, some I recognised some I didnt. Looking to my right I saw something which shocked me. Hung up on the far wall was a Mona Lisa. THE Mona Lisa. I should know I was an art expert. I made a mental note to ask about that in the morning. My mom was equally impressed by the look on her face.

"Amazing..." she whispered to herself. I smiled at her and gestured to the door that my sister mentioned. I walked through it into what looked like another hallway but with an opening on either side, revealing two bedrooms. At the end of the Hallway was what looked like a Picasso hung up on the far wall. I was amazed by the artwork but there was no time to stare. We needed sleep. I shared a glance with my mother as we parted company to sleep in our bedrooms. I would have taken a few minutes to look around but I was exhausted. In the darkness I could make out a four poster bed which I crept in slowly. I closed my eyes and relaxed in the warm sheets. I did not open them for some time.

**Thats it :) I hope you enjoyed it.**


	7. Bad News

Chapter 7

I opened my eyes groggily to the sound of talking. It took a few seconds to remember the events of of the previous day. The fighting, the pain and struggle. I opened my eyes slowly scanned the room. I noticed all the walls were lined with photos and ancient Greek ornaments. Light crept in through the gap in the middle of the curtain but most of the room was relatively dark, with only a dim glow escaping from the small amount of light allowed to creep in. I tried to get up, moving my arm to steady my body and immediately wished I hadn't; the sharp twinge of a healing would rattled up my arm sending me straight back into the pillows my head was laying on. The talking in other room stopped almost immediately after the groan left my mouth. First through the door was a lady with dark hair and silver eyes who I assumed to be Annabeth. I nearly didn't recognise her...she looked so different to what I remember. I had met her once out of chance a few years before she died. Her and Percy were sailing and they somehow accidentally found my island. Things were so much more straight forward then. Percy was disgusted that the gods never set me free but he was old and his wife was weak. There was nothing that could be done. I don't have any ill feelings. I owe them...I owe Percy.

"How are you feeling" she asked. I could see concern etched on her face. Behind her a girl of similar looks walked in.

"Your going to feel a little rough for a few days but you should heal up fine" she assured me.

"You were pretty beaten up when you got here...you gave mike quite a scare" she added with a smile. Smiling back I tried to get up but I had no energy.

"Here let me help you." she said holding out her arm for me to take. Annabeth stepped to the other side of me and steadied me as I rose. I could feel a slight pain in my side but I ignored it this time. I just wanted to be up I hated but stuck in a bed its so...human. Being left in the state I was in last night reminded myself how dangerous demigod life was. I almost felt guilty sending Percy and Annabeth back into the action but I know it had to be done...there was no other way. As I stood up straight the two girls kept their grip on my arms to steady.

"Just give me a sec ok?" I asked looking at Annabeth. She nodded and let me go, signally the other girl to do the same. I switched my glance onto her...noticing how similar her features were. Same long dark hair. Same effortless beauty but her eyes were the deepest shade of green. The best of both parents.

"I'm Arianna...my father has said so much about you.". Involuntarily looked at the floor trying to hide my blush. Truth is I never fully got over him but I had to let him go. Annabeth was his soul mate. What could compete with that. Arianna gave a small chuckle. Damn she noticed. I just smiled tried to walk around the room.

"If you don't mind me asking Lady Calypso but why in Hades are you here? The gods are never usually interested in the affairs of the dead...to be honest not even the dead are...Ow! Mom!"

"Some respect please darling remember who your talking to" her mother scolded.

"It's ok she's right you have a right to know why I'm here. It involves Percy unfortunately so I'll wait till he-"

"Calypso?" I heard a mumble from the corner of the room. I hadn't seen him before because the area was completely covered in darkness where the curtains were drawn. He was sitting on a dark blue armchair fiddling with a small pen. His face looked tired. He looked like he had been sitting there all night. As he opened his eyes I noticed they were not the signature green I was used to. It was any icy blue. His body was more heavily built than I remembered as well. Still he was definitely him and I smiled as I saw him for the first time in hundreds of years.

"You didnt have to sit there all night you know...Im fine...I looked down my body. UI realised this was the first time since I got up that I even bothered to look at myself. I was covered in bandages from head to toe. In my leg I could see stitches had had to be used on a deep gash. This made me worried. Why wasn't I healing properly...I'm a god. Percy smiled as if to agree with my assessment.

"Ok fine-ish"I laughed and he smiled and got out his chair. As he stepped closer his face came into the light. He looked so handsome. Just the same as I remembered. Same air of goodness radiating from him. Same smile. Same man. He leant forward and embraced me and we hugged.

"You had me worried" he whispered in my ear.

"Who me? No need I always stay out of trouble" I smiled to myself.

"Looks it" he chuckled as he stepped away. He rejoined his family and looked at me expectantly.

"Ok I guess you want to know why I'm here now right?". They all nodded.

"Ok..." I stuttered. I really didn't like the thought of sending the two of them back into the fighting. They had done enough to earn an eternity of rest. If they die this time they wont go to Elysium or the Blessed Isles. They will be thrown into eternal punishment for escaping.

"There is food in the kitchen if anyone is hungry". A voice called from a room around the corner.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and gestured for me to follow her.

"Come on...lets take this into the kitchen."

"Ok..." I started as 5 expectant eyes bored into me. I met Skye and Mike when I got into the kitchen and we all had sandwiches, chatting idly before we sat at the dining table to discuss why I was here. I could feel the expectation growing in the faces of each member of the family. We were sat around the family dinning table with me at the head. Annabeth and Arianna sat next to each other, still as stone waiting on what I had to say. Next to Arianna on the far side was Mike, hand in her his wife's, eyes darting between different members of the family taking in the atmosphere. He knew like the rest of them that this wasn't going to be good news. On the other side Percy and Skye sat patiently. I noticed that whenever he thought I wasn't looking he glanced over at me. I swear I could see pain in his eyes. Its been years...I didn't think he still cared. Skye looked intently at me.

I cleared my throat for the third time since we sat down, dread growing inside my stomach. I had to force myself to speak because this wasn't going come naturally.

"Ok," I said again well you can probably guess this is not a simple house call to see how your doing. I tried to get hold of you two" I gestured to Percy and his wife, "at the island but it turned out you wasn't there...not the best timing to make a visit haha" I laughed to myself. Percy smirked to himself and Annabeth nodded.

"Surfice to say that getting here was a lot harder than I expected and I met some resistance." I gestured to my beaten up body.

"How did you get hurt anyway your a god...you should just heal" Skye asked curiously.

"Honestly I have no idea. It seems Zeus is getting more and more aggressive in his tactics and must have found or created a way for mortal weapons to hurt gods. I dont like it"

"Wait a sec...Zeus?" said levelly with his hands on the table. He spoke his name with contempt. Obviously no love lost there.

"He did this to you? Why?" he said with an underlay of anger lacing his words. His wife gently put an arm on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Yes Percy...or rather his soldiers. There is a war on up there. Zeus has turned into a tyrant. Camp halfblood as a propoganda camp for his men. The world is terrified. Some gods are presumed forever faded...others are just missing. There are a few of us fighting him but to be honest we are losing. Mortals citys are being decimated by his rage. We need help. We dont have any heroes anymore. Zeus destroyed our strongest soldiers in the first few years of the war. This has been happening for decades." As I finished the 5 faces that were once curious were now white with shock.

"You mean he's...there is another war?" Percy looked at me with shocked eyes. His fearful whisper was all I could hear over the silence that had now engulfed the table.

"Yes...though this war is a complete decimation. He is currently poised to destroy the last legion of demigods that live to fight him. With them destroyed the rebel gods have to get directly involved. As you know its against our oath. Who knows what will happen if we break it."

"Sorry if you think I'm being rude but that still doesn't explain why you are here...there is nothing we can do any more...we are dead" Annabeth said sorrowfully

"As I said Annabeth we need help" I looked at the two of them to let the comment sink in.

"She wants us to leave the underworld" Percy said in a level tone, almost talking to himself. He stared almost straight across the table, eyes not focusing on anything in particular. I nodded to confirm his dread and he looked to the table sadly.

Annabeth looked at me like I was crazy.

"Why us? Why not Another hero...you know what it doesnt matter its a mute point as its impossible to escape the underworld without the help of Hades and even his method still requires a mortal from the outside"

"Not impossible just hard Annabeth...very very hard". I paused to let this information sink in with the group. The look on each of their faces was hurtful to see. They thought that in death they could finally rest, free of the responsibility or demigod life. They should be. It was immoral to do this.

"If they are going so am I" Skye said levelly after a few minutes of silence. Her words nearly made me jump; the tension on the room palpable. Before that moment all I could hear was the sound of breathing. The silence was deafening.

"No Skye your staying here" Percy said, eyes suddenly alert.

"Dad you cant expect me to just sit her and wait for you return!" Skye raised her voice, clear emotion flowing into her words. I could see her eyes shining as she fought back tears.

"I haven't even agreed to go yet! I-" Skye cut her father off.

"But you will! You always do!" The faintest falter came off her voice as she stared at her father with a determined expression. I immediately admired her. I could her father in her.

"We don't know what we are doing." Her mother spoke from the other side of the table. Her dark grey eyes seemed to almost stare through her daughter and her anger slowly abated.

"You don't have a choice" Arianna said in a bored voice, her expression intense. It was clear she was deep in thought.

"There is _always_ a choice. Its not the choices we have to live with, its the consequences. What we have to ask ourselves is can we live with the consequence of making the _wrong_ choice" Annabeth explained. I was quite taken aback by that statement. Who knew she was so..._wise_.

"Calypso" she turned to me. "What will happen if we don't agree to...leave".

Civilisation will fall and the mortal world will most like be gradually destroyed. The Titans will likely take advantage of the weakness and wreck havoc on human kind. The gods will be cast down and some of them destroyed...it will be Armageddon." I finished making sure I made eye contact with each member around the table. I could see complete understanding etched onto their faces. They knew what needed to be done. Finally Annabeth spoke.

"Then the consequence of doing nothing isn't something I can live with, and neither can my husband." she paused and turned to face her husband. "We have to go" she said quietly. Percy just nodded.

"No" he suddenly said turning to his left to face Skye.

"What?" she said raising her shoulders.

"You're not coming with us."

"Are you going to stop me?" she countered with a wry smile. I could see Percys face start to redden with anger. He was clearly a protective father.

"If I have to..." he said trailing off. This time Skye smiled properly

"Don't make me laugh. I'm the best swordsman here". Percy shifted uncomfortably as if trying to repress a really embarrassing memory. I was really surprised with her; a better swordsman than her father? That I would love to see.

"We. Don't. Need. Help!" Percy said emphasising each word, trying to drill in the message that he didn't want her coming.

"Why don't you want me to come?" Skye snapped back. Her face was reddening with anger.

"Because…its…its too dangerous!" Percy spluttered.

"Just because you weren't a father most of your life doesn't mean you can start being one now that your dead" Skye shouted back. I could see the colour drain from Percy's face.

"Low blow" I said looking to the table. Arianna shook her head.

"You shouldn't have said that" she said in a low voice. Skye looked flustered, caught between the need to apologise and the argument she was originally trying to make.

"Dad…I am coming whether you like it or not." She spoke slowly, boring her eyes into her fathers. For a few minutes there was silence. Finally Percy spoke.

"Mike" he turned to her other daughters husband. "Do you have a practice arena in your garden?". Mike smiled knowingly.

"Of course, follow me" he said getting out of his chair. He walked to rear of the room, which was behind him, and gestured Percy to follow.

"What are you doing Dad is this really the time-"

"One on one" Percy cut in. "Single combat swords only…oh and no powers" he added smiling.

"You're just making this easier for me". Skye teased.

"Winner gets _his_-" Percy ignored her

"More likely _her_" Skye smiled

"way" Percy finished, walking behind Mike out the door into the back garden. The rest of us stood up to follow. We wasn't going to miss this. Two of the best fighters of all time pitting against each other in single combat. Who wouldn't be interested?

I followed at the back of the line of family members as they walked outside.

The light hit me immediately as I stepped through the door. I didn't realise how dark it was inside until I stepped onto the stone tiles of the patio. The garden was beautiful; remember I am someone who knows a lot about nature. It was about 2 acres in size dominated by the practice arena at the back. Lining each fence was flowers from every corner of the globe, emanating an array of different colours. In one corner I could see an away of carnivorous plants including some huge Venus fly traps. I mean huge they stood about 30 feet tall. It could spend all day describing each and every flower in perfect detail but right now I was interested in something far more important. As I walked onto the grass, the floral smell washed over me. I felt relaxed and refreshed. I could feel my wounds and bruises from the previous nights troubles heal up and disappear.

The arena was circular in shape encased in a small palisade. The ground was a rust colour from all the dust and dirt. As I followed the family inside I noticed that there were raised platforms on either side of the arena where I spectators could watch.

I was so wrapped up in looking around that I barely noticed Annabeth stop in front of me until I walked into her.

"Ouch"

"Sorry" I muttered. She just turned and smiled. We came out of our line and made a crescent moon shape around Mike, me standing almost central. Mike stood next to a wooden box in front of us, about the same size as a wardrobe, a box that until this moment I hadn't realised was there.

"Skye…Percy, say your names very clearly when I tell you to". Percy nodded, standing to the end of the crescent on my right.

"Percy you first" Mike instructed. Percy stepped forward a pace and spoke slowly.

"Perseus Jackson". The moment he finished speaking, the boxes lid flung open.

Silver battle armour flew out the top and sped at Percy, fitting itself around his body. His armour was a shining silver with a gold trident engraved in the middle of his chest plate. His vanbraces were also gold. I could see the clasps and buckles doing themselves up around his body and in seconds he was in his fully battle suit minus his helmet. He held his arm out fiddling with the watch his wrist. I heard a click and his legendary circular shield formed on his arm. He used his other hard to flick the lid of the pen he was fiddling with earlier and Riptide appeared in his hand. He looked as if he was ready for the Titan wars all over again. In essence he was.

Mike turned to the other end of he line and gestured to Skye, her emerald eyes glowing with excitement. She stepped forward.

"Skye Jackson" she said with a smile.

More armour flew out the boxes open lid. This time instead of full battle armour, just a small chest plate and metal wrist guards melded onto her still form. She was around the same height as her mother and just as slender. She twisted two silver rings on each hand that I hadn't noticed before and two knives formed in her hands, each about a foot and a half long with two more spikes on each side of the hilt about a third of the blades length. It looked like she was holding two mini tridents just with shorter outside edges. She spun each blade round her hands with professional ease, flipping one out of her hand as she palmed the other across to meet her other hand. She looked completely at ease.

The father and daughter made their way into the centre of the arena and faced each other, light from the artificial sun glowing in their faces. Skyes dark hair glowed radiantly, her slender fingers gripped tightly around her blades, eyes intent now in concentration. Percy looked back at her with the same intesive expression, rubbing his sword hand across his shield

"Salute" Mikes voice rang out clearly. He dragged the box the armour came from out of the arena and rested it on the side. He clapped his hands and a set of stairs appeared out of nowhere leading upwards towards the viewing platform. The platform itself was made of pine wood by the looks of it and was rectangular in shape with an open window at the front. As I made my way up the stairs with the family, the two warriors saluted each other with their swords, bringing their right hand up their chin and down again to rest on their sides. For a few seconds they stood absolutely still.

I stood now inside the wooden platform looking down on the open arena. Mike made his way up the stairs and stood beside me. All was silent.

Finally I heard him bellow.

"Begin!"


	8. Skye vs Perseus

******Sorry for the EXTREMELY long wait. Broken computer made it impossible to work on anything. But here we go I finally have something created for you guys.**

******Thanks for waiting**

Chapter 8

**Skye's POV**

As soon as Mike yelled "Begin" my concentration immediately snapped solely on my father. There was no way I was letting him shut me out of this fight. How dare he think he has the right to suddenly start being a _father_! He hasn't been my father for half my life. After my mother died he just left me and my sister to pick up the pieces from the mess. We circled each other for a few minutes sizing each other up. He had better protection but I was faster and more agile. My father feinted to one side but I stood my ground, reading his intentions. We circled for a few moments more. It seemed neither of us wanted to make the first move.

"What's wrong father?" I taunted. "Afraid you're going to look bad?" As soon as the words left my mouth he charged, bringing his sword arm down on me while pushing me with his shield. I quickly parried his strike and spun away, using my other blade to strike his shield as I moved. No sooner had I moved had he struck again, jabbing Riptide towards my chest. I leant back just out of reach and batted the sword away. Seeing he had an advantage he tried to push me back but I was too quick and jumped, using his body to summersault into the air. As I landed behind him I immediately jabbed my sword at his back but he spun round fast, and I just caught his shield. In a flurry of strikes I tried to gain an advantage but he just parried each blow, his extra defences paying extra dividends. My hands moved so fast they just became a blur, the knives cutting and thrusting, trying desperately to get past his defences...this went in for a few minutes.

**Calypso's POV**

I couldn't believe what I seeing. The fight was incredible, both father and daughter moving so fast it was hard to keep track. They seemed to dance around each other in a blur, taking turns to strike and block each other's attacks. They both seem intent on winning, neither of them giving an inch to each other. After about ten minutes of this sparing they broke away, staring at each other with fierce concentration. Percy threw away his shield, putting both hands on his sword, holding it in a defensive position in front of him. Skye had her back to me at this point and began spinning her blades before lashing out at her father. She was so quick it was incredible and Percy had his work cut out deflecting the blows. She cut left, right, left, right, high low, left and left again in what seemed like merely a second and Percy moved his sword to meet each strike with deadly precision.

They made it look so easy. At one instant Skye span one blade across his chest and a fraction of a second later she swept the floor with the other. Percy simply ducked the first strike and summersaulted over the second, thrusting his feet in a kick towards Skye with such grace it seemed impossible. Skye just stepped back and waiting for Percy to land before bringing her right knife down on his chest; a strike which Percy met surprisingly easily even with his entire body bent backwards.

I marvelled at how skilled these two were at fighting. They were clearly the right people for the job the council had asked of them. If these heroes couldn't survive on the surface then no mortal ever will. Even gods were finding Earth incredibly dangerous. Looking at these two fighting it was evident that even Ares would have a hard job taking them on. Ares…the scumbag had sided with Zeus tipping the war seriously in his favour. Two of the most powerful gods combined to make what seemed like a war going machine that was almost impossible to stop…almost…Percy and his family were the last hope for everyone. Zeus isn't going to know what hit him. I let myself smile at that thought. The fight was incredibly even. As soon as one of them was pushed back to a point it looked like they might lose, they immediately recovered and went on the offensive. It was impossible to call.

**Percy's POV**

I knew I was losing. Every time it looked like I had the upper hand she countered and beat me back again. I tried everything. She swung her twin blades in combinations that had I not had part Ares in my blood, I would have surely not been able to meet. After I shed my shield I thought it would be easier to cover myself from her blows as I had more speed but it did nothing. While the shed weight gave me more agility, it also gave her more to aim at. As I summersaulted away from one of her combo attacks I reacted just in time to parry a stab to my chest. My arms were working almost mechanically, acting on instinct and intuition rather than sight. The fight was too fast to rely on only what you could see and here. In the few instances where I could see my daughters face, it frightened me. The fierce concentration and anger was so palpable it almost made me flinch. She wasn't going to give an inch and I could feel myself slipping.

I pushed on, feeling the unmistakable sensation of perspiration dripping down my forehead onto my face. I thrust my sword forward at her chest and she caught it in between one of her tridents and twisted. Seeing it drop to the floor I jumped back in a high summersault and redrew it from my pocket before I even touched the floor again. I could see the arena around me as well as the small boxed off area where the my family were watching but my mind didn't let me process them; so much of my metal capacity was being used up merely trying to keep myself in the contest. As Skye came down on my again I briefly forgot the rules of the engagement and reached out for water. A small section of the arena floor erupted like a geyser and blew towards Skye. Shocked as she was she simply split the water as it rushed towards her and the spray just went around her.

We both stopped sparring and she laughed gently. I heard Mikes voice call from the platform

"Percy broke the rules of engagement…Sk-"

"No" my daughter interrupted.

"But you've won there is no need to-"

"I don't care." She shouted back fiercely. The force in her voice ensured no-one was going to argue. "We will finish this properly"

She winked at me. "This is going to be fun…ready to get beaten twice father?" I laughed at that statement.

"What the hell" I sighed. "Let's go".

**Calypsos POV**

As soon as Percy said "Let's go" half the arena turned into a sea of water. Skye flicked her wrist towards her father and a column of water came out of the miniature sea like and arm and punched towards her father. The earth in front of him then tilted and the water deflected off the raised ground. Percy, using his powers over the earth to spring board himself over the water, launched himself at Skye, sword raised. As he landed Skye turned to face him and began to strike him. I saw sparks fly from her blades like electricity. It _was _electricity. Now that all the rules had been taken out of the contest, everything was fair game. Percy pulled out knives from his belt and started throwing them at Skye to try and slow her progress towards him. She just deflected them as she moved, spinning left and right before using the water to launch herself towards her father and breakneck speed. Percy threw himself out the way just in time but Skye hit the wall of the arena with such force she nearly went through it.

Percy saw this as his opportunity and ran towards her, using his Zeus powers to pick up the knives her threw earlier and launch them at the prone form of his daughter. She rolled out the way just in time, still dazed from hitting the wall. Percy carried on running towards her and threw all his weight into his Riptide strike. Skye raised her blades to catch the strike and the electricity ran up riptide as the blades touched. Percy yelled and fell back, dropping the blade but using air currents to lift him away so she couldn't finish him off. This fight could last for hours. No one seemed prepared to give up and even when Percy had technically lost, Skye still insisted on continuing the fight.

Percy touched down in the middle of the water and stood there, wrapping the water around him like a shield. From my view it looked like a blizzard made of water. Skye tried to throw one of her blades at it but it just bounced off the spinning sphere like the sphere was made of rock. Without warning the sphere exploded at the water split into four columns snaking themselves around the arena. I couldn't see Percy anywhere. Then I realised. He had become the water itself. He was one of the columns. The question was which one.

**Skye's POV**

"Fuck" I muttered to myself. I shook my head to clear my vision.

"Idiot" I berated myself further. My head was pounding. How could I be so stupid? I had launched myself at Percy so hard I nearly broke myself through a brick wall. What advantage I had is now gone. I knew I could have just claimed victory earlier but where was the fun in that. I wanted to beat him properly. In the first round I had the advantage as I am a far better swordsman than he is but he has a far better grasp of his abilities than I do. So as long as he uses his godly gifts against me we are pretty much evenly matched. As he split himself into four tendrils of water snaking themselves around the pit I silently cursed myself. Each water column acted like octopus tentacles, taking turns to strike me and I could only just use my power to hold them off. I had to think fast of be defeated.

One of those tendrils was Percy himself all I had to do was work out which one and what? Do what? I had no idea but I have long learned to trust instincts so I decided to make up that part of the plan later. I decided to focus all my water powers into my knives, using each blade in turn to swat away the columns of water that relentless bombarded me. I looked carefully at how each cylinder moved, desperately trying to work out which arm to target. The attacks became more intense, each arm snaking around trying to find a weakness. As good a swordswoman as I was, I just couldn't keep this up forever. I decided to take a gamble; I went on the offense. I launched myself into the air, cutting into the first arm with my left blade while using the solid body of water to jump onto the next one which was just behind it which moved out the way before my feet could touch it. I landed in the water behind but like my father I could just walk on the surface and not fall through. Another arm tried to strike me but I moved out the way quickly, jumping on the forth arm, using it in the same way I had used the first. I was pretty sure at this point that the second was my father as it had been the only one that had moved out of the way when I had attacked it. _Game on_ I thought.

I was getting tired but I knew I had to step my pace up and I jumped around each column of water as fast as I could, cutting and slashing each one away. I had to pretend that I didn't know which one was Dad until the last possible moment. Each of the tentacle-like arms attacked me as I moved around them and it took all my concentration to remember which arm was which; they moved so quickly and fluently. All of a sudden, the first arm smashed down towards me and I stepped out the way. My father's water column was just behind it. _Bingo_ I thought _here's my chance. _Seeing my opportunity I hit my swords together and it turned into an ornately carved blue bow. I ran up the arm just as it was retreating but it was too late and I used its momentum to propel myself high above my father. As soon as I was directly above him, I pulled an arrow from the bows magic frame, the wood providing me with the ammunition before magically replenishing itself seconds later. I a single movement I notched the arrow, pulled back the tight string, and release the projectile, hearing the short whirl as the arrow punched through first the air, then the water as it struck my father's tentacle. As it reached its target the column dissolved from the top almost as fast as the arrow was flying. I saw my dad raise his sword to deflect the arrow. _I'm only going to be able to do this once _I thought. I took my eyes away for a fraction of a second and as I landed I switched my bow back into the knives. As soon as I landed I turned and threw, knowing instantly where my target was without the need to look.

I knew as soon as the blade left my hand that the contest was over.

The knife was buried in his chest as far as the hilt and he knelt of the floor out of breath. Because he was in the underworld, the knife in his chest did nothing but it still hurt and he winced as he pulled it out. I walked over to him and helped him up.

"Looks like I'm coming then" I said with a smile. He gave a wry smile back.

"Yeah…I suppose so". He said shakily.

"Told you I'd beat you twice" I jibed.

"Ok ok…don't inflate your ego…how did you know which one was me?"

"You dodge out of the way when I attacked unlike the other arms of water…you kind of gave yourself away in the end. You put up a good fight…one of the best I've ever had." I had lost all my initial anger towards him. Somewhere during the fight it had left me, my physically aggression fatiguing me in a way that made me too tired to care anymore. I put my arm around him and looked up to the lookout post to see Mike and the family come down. Looking down at pool that I had created, I then gestured to Mike who was coming towards me.

"Sorry about the arena…let me" I turned back to the pull and held out my arms, knitting the land back together so the pool of water disappeared and the arena was as it was. It was only when it was done that I realised how tired I was. My whole body was in pain and I was only just able to stand.

"Cheers" Mike said, patting me on the shoulder.

I flinched in pain involuntarily.

"Sorry…" he said, looking at me apologetically.

"Don't worry I'm fine"

"You look like Hades" he said flatly. I chuckled to myself

"You sure know how to charm a woman Mike"

"Your sister doesn't seem to mind" I laughed. Annabeth walked over to her husband and helped him back to the house. Mike offered to help me but I shook him off. I could carry myself. Calypso stood just in front of the kitchen door and called out to me.

"I think we should continue our earlier conversation shouldn't we?". I walked up to her and followed her inside.

"Let's". I said before walking back in the kitchen. Everyone was seated at the table except me and Calypso. My dad put tablets of what looked like ambrosia in his mouth and chewed absently, not really looking at anyone, his wife sitting next time him fighting the urge to smile. It was amusing to see that she still enjoyed seeing Percy's arse get handed to him. Arianna sat next to her husband while he fidgeted in his chair, impatient to get the meeting finished as soon as possible. As soon as Calypso had sat herself down at the head of the table, I took the chair nearest to me and waiting as silence fell upon the table.

"I take it that little duel settled everything?...".

"Humph" my dad grunted. Everyone around the table laughed.

"A great exhibition of skill nonetheless. It's clear we have chosen the right people for the job". Calypso said with evident pride in her voice.

"If there was any other way believe me I would explore it…but we are at our wits end. You are our final card. Once you're on the surface there is very little I can do to help you. Do you understand?"

Percy, Annabeth and I all nodded.

"Good" she continued. "Then this is what we are going to do…"

**Well there it is. I know it isnt of the greatest quality but I've been away for a while.**

**Please review :)**


	9. Escape Part 1  Brute Force

**Here it is. I know everyones had to wait a long time but finally I have the next chapter put up for you. I've been extremely busy and suffering from writers block so my absense cant be helped. Origonally this was going to be one long chapter but it was beginning to get ridiculously long and would be 6000 pages or more before I actually got it put up.**

**So then I decided to split it in half so that finally my followers will have something to read. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 9

Calypso's POV

I kept my hood up as I walked through the crowded streets of Elysium. For all intents and purposes I am dead. News must have travelled to Hades by now of my death which means he must know, at least in part, what my plan was. Time was of the essence and I had to get the Heroes out of the Underworld before Hades could raise defences and make what was already an impossible mission, even harder. Walking through the streets reminded me of what it should be like in the real world. What were once the bustling streets of New York is now an empty shell of a city full of ruin and despair. What was once London a city full of culture and history is now mostly a smoking haze of rubble and fire. The war had ruined almost everything that was good In the world, the only safe haven left for most people being the forests and the mountains and each of them came with its own hazards. The world was barren and the last card in our arsenal was about to be played. Anything could happen now. Ahead of me I could see one of the many gates that lead out of the city. Half a dozen guards patrolled the front gate, their black and gold uniforms sending shivers down my spine. It wasn't fear that was plaguing me, it was anxiety. This plan had to work.

I carried on walking to the gates, forcing my legs to move against the pit that was now forming in my stomach. When I was close enough to the gate I dropped my hood, knowing that I wouldn't be recognised. Hardly anyone knew what I looked like it was a wonder I was recognised on my way in. the only reason I kept my hood up in the city was that anyone could be watching. Now I was on the outskirts there were only a few people walking around, mainly the residents of the outlying houses. I waited about half an hour before the gates opened and a skeleton horse drawn cart full of market supplies came through. I knew then that I had approximately ten minutes before the gates closed (they kept the gates open a few minutes after the supplies had gone through so that when the supplies were dropped off, they could just leave) . I strode over to one of the guards and put on an innocent smile.

"Excuse me sir" I said in a sweet voice. The guard turned around and smiled flirtatiously. His hair was long and unkempt and his breath reeked of stale cigarette smoke. Disgusting man.

"Well hello there miss…how can I help such a fine looking young lady". I looked to the floor and pretended to blush.

"Aw you're sweet but…I just came over to ask you something." He looked at me with what I could guess was lust. I knew I was pretty but I rarely tried to use my looks to my advantage for anything. It just wasn't something I liked to do. This was different though.

"And what might that be." He took a step towards me and held his arm out towards me as if offering to take me hand.

"Come closer and I'll tell you." I said seductively, batting my eyelashes as much as I could. I had never done this before so I didn't know if it was working or not. Luckily it did and he took another step closer. The smell was making me want to gag but I held my ground.

"Closer" I almost whispered the sound nearly inaudible. He was now less than a foot away.

"Closer" I said again nearly inaudible. I parted my lips slightly and turned my head as if to kiss him. The stupid man took the bait and closed his eyes as he leant in for what he thought would be a kiss. His breath was now almost unbearable. As he leant in for the kiss, I pulled my swords out of their scabbards and stabbed him through the stomach. I leant towards his ear as his eyes opened wide with shock, blood dripping out of his mouth.

"You disgust me" I whispered before his body slumped to the ground.

"Now!" I shouted and three other figures in black hooded cloaks dashed past me and attacked the remaining guards. They were so overcome with shock that they didn't have a chance to react. Percy dropped his hood and thumped his shield into the first guard so hard that he flew straight into the wall. Annabeth just disappeared into thin air; I couldn't see her at all but looking round guards randomly started to drop to the floor, blood gushing from their throats. Skye dived straight into the middle of the action spinning her blades in the air cutting down anyone who so much as came within a foot of her. In about ten seconds all twelve or so of the guards were dead and we ran through the gate and into barren Fields of Asphodel, Annabeth rematerializing and stuffing what looked like a baseball cap into her left pocket. I could hear a siren sounding behind me. The alarm had been sounded. I didn't look back once I continued to run. Being in the underworld, I didn't fatigue as quickly and neither did anyone else. In fact we barely fatigued at all. We ran for what seemed like miles, not saying a word, just keeping our legs moving. The fields were full of spirits who looked on at us in confusion as we ran. I wasn't surprised. It's not often you see a group of people in black hoods carrying weapons running towards the borders of the underworld.

After a while another wall came into view. Even from this distance I could see soldiers lining up in front of the gate, hundreds of them grouping together. Eventually they all stopped moving. I heard Skye yelling to the right of me.

"They are drawing their bows!" she panted.

"At this…range? What do they…hope to achieve?" Annabeth asked between breaths. Knowing the answer immediately I answered straight away as to avoid wasting anymore time talking.

"This is the underworld…rules on distancing and gravity do not apply…besides I bet each of those bows is made especially…to cover long distances. We may be nearly a mile away but trust me…those arrows will reach us!". I nodded to Skye on my right and she opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs

"Make zigzag patterns and spread out!...if you think an arrow is going to hit you use your sword to deflect but only do it as a last resort…as it will slow you down" she continued panting and darted to the left. I followed suit and so did the others. We spread out until we were at least ten or so metres from each other ran diagonally, changing direction when we started to get close to each other. At first nothing happened, all I could hear was the rapid beating of my heart as I darted from side to side but after about twenty seconds I heard the familiar snap of bowstrings and arrows filled the air, blotting out the artificial sun in the sky. Due to the immense distanced it took another ten or more seconds for the arrows to hit their target. They crashed down all around me, the impact of the arrowheads hitting the hardened ground sounding like hail hitting cobblestones. We darted from side to side, almost in a dance like movement, gracefully arching our bodies away from falling projectiles as we moved. Occasionally I would swing one of my swords to intercept an arrow if I hadn't the time to move but I didn't dare stop for I knew that the arrows that the guards were using were likely the same kind as the ones that nearly killed me only a day before. A few times I intercepted an arrow that someone else had overlooked, saving them from the razor sharp tip. The act was repaid by the others as well; Annabeth drawing her bow at the last second to intercept a projectile that I had not seen. She was using her bow much like I used my sword, using the wooden surface to swat away arrows that came too close. This carried on for about a minute before the arrows stopped crashing After a while the line of soldiers changed tactic and aimed their bows horizontally across the plain.

I glanced to my left and saw Percy activating his shield, the bronze shield expanding on his wrist where before sat a watch. He stopped his erratic movement and gestured for me and his family to do the same

"Keep open but run straight." He bellowed, beads of sweat dripping from his brow. He looked exhausted but still he ran as he talked. Annabeth levelled out on the right and sky ran next to me on my right. "We need not fear danger from the skies. It's the ground we have to be wary of. The arrows are going to come in thick and fast, and even faster as we close the distance. Try and keep the same distance as person next to you. Last thing we want is to have _someone_" he gestured to his left as Annabeth turned away slightly as she moved, not wanting to meet his eye.

"Hey that only happened once…" she panted. The army was now just 500 hundred metres away. Shapes of men were now visible within the condensed block of soldiers that stood before me. Before Percy could reply the cracks of bow strings met my ears, the arrows flying forth so fast that any mortal person wouldn't have time to blink before being used as human pincushion. My razor sharp reflexes appeared to slow down time as the arrows cut through the air. Never breaking stride I met each projectile with the flat of my blade, the abrupt change in momentum shattering the shafts into splinters. Glancing to my sides ever few seconds I saw Percy, running at the attackers with his shield held out in front of him, the dull thuds of the arrowheads bouncing off the polished metal surface indicating that he was well protected. Annabeth used her bow like a staff; holding it in the middle while she spinned it in front of her with inhuman speed, acting like a propeller and blasting away any arrow that came within arm's length. Skye had her twin blades drawn, cutting and spinning around gracefully, effortlessly flicking away each arrow as if it were a mere fly. I was amazed at the ease of which she deflected her attacks, her arms moving as if they were in a trance. I could see a faint smile lining her lips. It was like a game to her.

The enemy forced were now only a hundred feet away. I could make out the individual expressions of each soldier and each soldier held an almost identical expression. Fear. _As right they should. _They started urgently throwing the bows on the floor and drawing their swords. All four of us seemed to think as one and we discarded our cloaks

"Close ranks" ranks shouted Percy as he edged inwards towards me, closing in quickly, taking care to keep his shield up in case any soldiers still had their bows drawn. Close to my right, Skye draw in close and gestured towards her mother on my right hand side who was now only a few feet away from her husband. We were now close enough to see the polished swords and armour gleaming in the artificial sun, their glare dancing off the metal in arcane patterns.

"Ready!" Annabeth shouted to her daughter and Skye nodded, another smile forming on her face. We were now only twenty feet from the solid mass in front of us. We were stupid. We were insane. Two of the greatest heroes Olympus have ever known, one of the greatest swordswoman in history and a rebel goddess vs. over a thousand trained soldiers, given orders to defend the gates at any cost. We knew they would fight to the death no matter how many we killed. If they failed a fate worse than death they would receive. We were now only about twenty metres away. The formidable line before us braced their shields.

"You know what to do" Skye said before running out in front of us and leaning down. Her mother then changed direction and, using her sisters back as a vault, she jumped high into the air, bow draw, straight over the centre of the army. Gracefully gliding through the air, she then drew four arrows from her quiver and notched them all at once before letting them fly into the solid wall of bodies below her, creating a gap for her to land in. We all knew our roles in this battle. We had planned this all of last night. When Skye got up two soldiers broke ranks to attack, thinking she was at a disadvantage. They were wrong. As she rose she stabbed her knives into the two soldier's throats, lifting them into the air before she threw them to one side, the dry ground now wet with their blood. She then glanced back at me with a gleam in her eye. She lifted up her hand and pointed to the ground in front of my just a few feet away.

"Go!" she shouted. As soon as I got to where she was pointing to, a fountain of water erupted beneath me, propelling me high into the air. Below me I could see Annabeth standing in a small clearing, fighting off soldiers from all angles in a blur of movements. We surmised the previous day that running into the organised battle line was suicide. The best we could do was get into the middle, where their organisation counts for naught. Over a dozen bodies already littered the floor around her. Some of the soldiers tried to draw their bows and shoot but I was travelling so quickly they all missed. Seconds later I landed in the Annabeths clearing, rolling forward to absorb the momentum of my movement. I had barely recovered when a soldiers sword came crashing down towards my face and I had barely enough time to deflect the blow before my head was caved in. Another soldier on his right then tried to stab me but he was too slow and I moved out of the way before I stabbed him in the neck with my other knife, blood shooting out of the wound. Wrenching it free, the other soldier came forward, an angry expression on his face. I used my speed to my advantage and feinted before using the created gap to cut is shield arm off. The man screamed as he looked at the stump he had left for a hand and I stabbed him in the chest.

Realising there was no time to waste I darted backwards and stood back to back with Annabeth. Skye was now in the clearing and Percy had used his shield as a battering ram to push himself through the battle line; a line of bodies going back the way we came from I could only assume was his handiwork. We arrange ourselves d in a cross shape so none of us could get flanked and let the hoard of soldiers come upon us. It was bloody work. As soon as I cut down one soldier another was upon me just like that. Bodies started piling up and my shirt was now covered in blood. Occasionally I had to spit blood out of my mouth, the blood sometimes spurting at my face as I cut through a vein or artery. It was brutal.

But that was to be expected.

War _is _Brutal.

Skye's POV

I deflected a soldier's blade with a flick of my wrist and used my other knife to cut his throat before kicking his body back into the onrushing crowd. Another soldier took his place and he swung his blade towards my side. I deflected it easily and he cut down again this time towards the top of my head. A soldier to his left used this distraction as a chance to try and stab me but I simply used my free sword to fight him off while my right hand stopped the original attack. He tried again soon after but I deflected him again and when he missed the third time I grabbed his arm and pulled him straight into me and onto the knife. He let out a groan of pain and blood poured into his mouth. The other soldier tried to attack me but I stabbed him quickly and let him drop, not even looking at him as I did. The day wore on and more soldiers fell. The cross shape our group had made sometimes moved around as we sidestepped and changed position but we never broke. Occasionally I head the mothers bowstring crack and a fraction of a second later the sound of multiple bodies dropping as arrows found their mark.

As bodies piled up before me, the soldiers just kept on coming. At one point I was fighting four soldiers at once before I got bored trying to beat them in swordplay and used my power over water to get a boiling hot geyser to eliminate them. About 30 seconds later my mom somehow managed to notch ten arrows at once and shouted at me and Calypso to duck before taking out the first two lines of soldiers in front of us in one volley. 10 arrows, 22 kills, I shot. I gave thumbs up in her direction as an acknowledgement of her feat. Her talent was extraordinary. More soldiers climbed over the bodies of their dead brethren but it was becoming more and more difficult for them to get to us as the bodies were now piling up at an alarming rate and they were getting tripped up by outstretched arms and legs. Relief warmed my heart as the soldiers began to thin out. _Not long now_ I thought

_Not long now._

**So there you go part one is up and part two is half done. There's no need to worry getting out of the underworld is going to take more than just killing everything in their way. Why do you think the chapter was origonally going to be so long? Anyway enough rambing. Please review and if you have any suggestions as to the next chapter please let me know Id love to hear them. I have some ideas but if you have a better one I'll gladly use that instead.**

**Thank you**

**$hadowz**


	10. Escape Part 2 The Tunnel

**Here's the other half of the escape...sorry I dont update more I'm just such a perfectionist. Btw accept the slight deviation from official greek myth in places I made certain changes to suit my needs more. Your only going to notice if you know your myths anyway but if you do notice its not a mistake.**

Chapter 10

Percy's POV

As the day wore on my arms started to feel like lead. I kept using my shield to block and my sword arm to stab in an almost mechanical motion; I was not thinking about what I was doing I just let my arms act on their own accord. I occasionally looked down at the bodies of the fallen soldiers and was surprised when no emotion came. I should be bothered about killing these men with such brutality but I wasn't. Another man came forward, carrying a mace and a sporting a short black beard and moustache. He looked like one of those people you would see playing in a rock band at some bar. His mace was blocked by my shield and I used its weight to crash into his body before stepping back (I didn't want to become separated.

The only thing keeping us alive was our organisation. He came forward again, yelling out a battle cry. Stepping to one side just before he came upon me, I knocked him off balance with my shield and as he started to trip over I decapitated him, showering me in crimson blood. Not a single thread of emotion came to me as his head rolled away from his body, the look of terror still upon him. By now my whole body was soaked in the blood over hundreds of fallen men and more were still to come. Slowly our cross formation was edging closer and closer to the main gate. If we stayed where we were we would box ourselves in with the people we kill and trap ourselves. Our only hope was to keep moving. The torrent of soldiers began to slow and I let myself smile in delight. We were now only about ten metres from the closed gate.

"Break formation" I said realising that there was no point in keeping our cross shape anymore. Then something dawned on me. The gate was closed. _Shit_. Someone needs to get that gate open. We cannot let ourselves be backed up against a corner.

"Annabeth!" I shouted turning to my wife who had just taken down a soldier knife to the chest. He keeled over and she glanced sideways at me.

"What! in case you haven't realised seaweed brain I'm a little busy" she said while slicing the throat of another attacker before punching the next one square in the face. The man was wearing a battle helmet but her shear force crushed it against his skull as he was thrown metres into the air.

"Cover me for a few seconds I need to get that gate open." Backing away from the soldiers Annabeth stood in front of me, being my defence as I turned away from her and concentrated on summoning the energy I needed to bring forth the water out of the ground. My wife worked at a frantic rate cutting through as many soldiers as she could so that I could open the gates. Occasionally one would get through and I would have to cut them down with my blade; Annabeth telling me the instant someone had escaped her but for the most part I was free to do my job. After a few more seconds the ground seemed to shake like an earthquake, tremors thundering across the landscape as if the ground beneath us was alive. My body became more and tense as I tried to draw the water out. Cracks started to appear in front of my and water gushed out through the gaps, spraying high into the air like a water fountain. More and more cracks appeared then, after what felt like an age of waiting, the ground in front of me and exploded in a torrent of violent water. The force of the blast blew the gate apart as if it were made of paper, taking part of the gatehouse with it and smashing through the wall with such force that the bricks simply disintegrated. I could feel my energy dropping, the strength needed to summon this water taking its toll on me. I let the water soak into the earth and disappear; I would have used it to destroy the remaining soldiers but I guessed the effort would have killed me. I feeling my muscles relax I I nearly lost my footing unexpectedly, such was the fatigue I was now suffering.

I turned back and swung my arms towards the now open space that was once a gatehouse.

"Let's move!" I shouted and we ran through the gap, taking the remaining soldiers with us. What was once a dense block of soldiers a thousand strong was now a random jumble of bodies that numbered a hundred or less.

Looking back at my previous path, all I could see was a pile of bodies drenched in blood.

And I still couldn't feel anything.

Annabeths POV

What I could only guess was about half an hour had passed. The carnage had long passed and our pace had slowed down somewhat; we were all exhausted and covered in the blood over hundreds of men, men who were probably only following orders. Still couldn't be helped. In war there are always casualties. I glanced back briefly to what was now just a silluette of a wall, the gaping whole we fought our way through looking faint and ghostly, covered by a thin layer of mist. My whole body felt achy and sore. I hadn't felt this way in years, probably since I was alive. The ironic thing was that we had just completed the easiest part. We still had to leave this place. I leant my head into my husband's shoulder, lost in my own thoughts. I suppose it was too much to ask for peace. There is always a problem to fix, always something ready to go wrong. We had led the best lives we could. All three of them. I suppose it was both a blessing and a curse. Now we are needed again. I could only guess at what had led Zeus to become so insane. Throughout our long walk Calypso had told us stories about the world above. Whole cities reduced to piles of rubble. It was madness. Even if we wanted to we couldn't ignore it. The underworld may escape notice for a while but eventually Zeus would come for that as well. Hades would fight back but inevitably lose. We would lose our home and by that time it would be too late to fight back. We were well and truly backed into a corner.

My mind was cast back to when I was Carmen Poras. Percy was James Crow. We had just left for camp Half Blood using the instructions our satyr guide had given us shortly before he died. I was sobbing as I walked, so saddened by the loss of our guide. He was the only friend I had since birth. After walking for hours we stopped on a shallow by a lake for a water break. James told me to stay on the hill while he went down to the Lake to gather water and to call him if there was any trouble. I just nodded not really paying attention. Fifteen minutes later I heard the sound of movement then his voice coming back up the hill, reassuring me it was only him. It was then he did something very unexpected. I felt his arm rest upon my shoulders and bring me in for a cuddle as he sad himself beside me. I turned my head and saw his eyes bore into me, full of concern. He then spoke my name softly, almost too quiet for me to hear while holding out in his palm a white lily, gesturing me to take it. I felt overwhelmed. It was the nicest gesture anyone had ever given me. I picked up the flower and sniffed it, letting its pure fragrance engulf me for a few seconds. For those few seconds all my troubles seemed to have gone. I then slid the stalk in between a few locks of hair and wore it with me for the entire journey. Without his encouragement I don't think I could have ever made it to camp. I never took it off until the day I died. I even had the Hecate and The Persephone cabin magically immortalise the flower so that it would never break or die. _It's probably still in my grave even now_ I thought.

Looking back at my happy days made me realise how well I had things. Most people only got one life with their soul mate. I had 2. We had achieved things that no-one thought possible. Looking back at that day at the lake reaffirmed everything I knew about our relationship. We were tied to each other no matter what and now we were to fight together again and as terrifying as the prospect of fighting another war was, the truth was that I couldn't wait to be on the front line again. Resting for eternity is ok and all but to be honest it's rather boring after a while. You can do what you want when you want but when everything that you could possible want is so within reach, soon you grow tired of it after a few years and eventually you treat death as more of a retirement home. As bad as the situation was, I was raring to go.

After a while a mountain range came into view and what was a plain barren landscape started to get bumpy. It felt better beneath me feet, the ground feeling less dead and lifeless. Every now and again I saw a tree, some even had golden leaves on them. As we drew closer and closer to the ranges I took time to check around the group to make sure everyone was alright. Looking up from Percy's shoulder I could see that his face was caked in blood, only a few small spots of skin free from congealed blood and grime. He gave me a knowing smile as if to say 'Yeah tell me about it'. I turned my head, still walking to see my daughter walked slightly behind us. She gave me a slight nod and a wry smile as I looked back towards her. Even though I knew she could take care of herself perfectly fine I still felt a pang of worry about the prospect of fighting with her in this war. I could handle the dangers to myself quite alright but the thought of putting her in danger made my stomach knot. Only thing stopping me from sending her back, other than the fact I knew she wouldn't go, was the knowledge that if I did, I would be taking away part of her character. It was in her blood to do this. Quite often I found myself in those emerald eyes. Her demeanour reminded me of myself in so many ways. She was in many ways the best of both me and Percy as she had the steadfast determination that I only thought my husband could have. Slightly to the left of her walked the goddess Calypso, her hood now up, her eyes scanning the route ahead like a hawk, searching for danger. I had never met Calypso before but I had heard she was very beautiful. They were right. Even covered in grime and ruined cloths she still held an unnatural air of beauty and power. She was certainly not someone to be messed with. Looking into those almond eyes I could see a person pondering a hundred questions at once and coming up with an answer to nearly all of them. At first seemed not to notice me, but then she gave a slight nod of recognition and I hastily turned back to look at the path in front.

The mountains were now close in front of us; we were heading for a gap in between two peaks. The muddy ground started to turn into grass and multiple tracks started to spread out in different directions. One headed east, three headed west and two headed straight forward. Seeing this we all stopped and sat down on the grass, stripping water flasks from our belts. I took a gulp of water and sat in silence. After a few minutes the silence was broken.

"Where now?" Percy complained next to me. Calypso looked up; she was crouched on the ground and was absently making pictures in the dirt with her finger and then quickly rubbing them out again.

"I…I don't know. I didn't know anyone came this way. I thought there would only be one path"

"Your kidding right?" Percy took a swig from his flask and put it back on his belt. He then reached out with his hand towards the ground and created a small pool of water in the ground.

"While we've got a little time does anyone else want to clean up a bit. This blood is starting to smell and don't even get me started on the body odour" he said with a smile looking at me. I laughed and gave him a jab on the arm.

"Hey you don't smell so great yourself Seaweed Brain!" I could feel the Artemis in me, telling me which direction to take . I could see in my mind exactly where the path lead and where the best defendable positions were on the route if we were to be attacked. I could even sense how far away we had to walk and how long it would take to get there in our current condition. Walking over to the puddle Percy had created on the ground I was shocked at my own reflection. It took me a few seconds to even realise it was me such my surprise. My face was almost red with blood with small spots of black where the blood had congealed. My dark hair was dishevelled and knotted, strands of hair sticking out in all directions and looking down at my cloths I could see they were torn and, as well as the rest of my body, covered in enemy blood. I really shouldn't have been surprised at my appearance, especially as my family looked just as bad as I did but I was. Reaching into the pool I cupped my hands and brought the fresh water to my face. The cool water felt pleasant against my skin and I took as much time as I could wiping away all the blood and grime that had formed on my face. About halfway in I reached in my pocket and brought out a small vial of shampoo I had smuggled from the house.

"Annabeth is that what I think it is?" I heard Percy's amused voice call behind me. "It is! Ha ha your Aphrodite phase has affected you more than you think". I could feel my cheeks redden in embarrassment as he said it.

"Go to Hades Seaweed Brain!" I replied back at him intended to sound intimidating but he just laughed. Sometimes he can be a right pain; especially when he was right. Ignoring him I washed my hair in silence, untangling my hair and rinsing methodically, all the while lost in thought. I kept trying to imagine how the world must have chance since we left. From what Calypso described it, the planet was barely habitable. What really bothered me is not knowing what had caused Zeus to behave so…evil. I knew he could sometimes be arrogant and misguided and sometimes wars broke out but this wasn't a war this was full scale extermination and from what I was told, he would not stop until all those who opposed him were either dead or on his side. It just didn't make sense. Then again if it did my family and I wouldn't be needed and we would be back on the island by now laying on the beach sipping a glass of wine.

Shoving those thoughts out of my head I got up and cast my thoughts on the path ahead. I had deduced the eastern path was the way to go. Even if I didn't have the advantages of Artemis's tracking skills it was pretty obvious since it was the least worn path, telling me that not many people ventured that way.

"This way" I gestured to the path. Calypso looked at me curiously.

"How did you-?"

"I just do" I cut her off with a smile. As everyone got up I scanned the path looking for dangers. When I was satisfied with my search and found nothing of interest, I started to make my way up the path, followed closely by the rest of the group. Since I was the only one who knew where they were going, they let me lead the way, occasionally stopping to take on water. The further we got down the path, the more signs of life I could find. It was almost as if the closer we got. After a few more hours we finally came to our destination. In front of us was a mountain about the same height as Mont Blanc with a large tunnel going through its centre. Looking into it I could see faint light at the end of the tunnel. It was very long and no-one had ever made it through. Orpheus tried it once but failed and now resided forever in the fields of punishment.

I glanced sideways at Percy and caught his surprised expression.

"Is this-?"

"Yep"

"-Where"

"Yep"

"Shit" he muttered shaking his head. I turned to address the group before we walked in. If things went wrong here we were screwed. No one would rescue us here. I could see everyone was nervous. Skye shifted uncomfortably side to side while Percy absently fiddled with riptide in his hands. Only Calypso looked at easy but then again she had nothing to lose. She was immune to the powers of the tunnel. A thin mist started to form inside the opening, doing nothing to help the nerves rattling in my stomach.

"Whatever you do don't look back. The tunnel will try and trick us. Stay focused and keep moving and you will be fine" I said, keeping my head and eyes focussed on the tunnel. It was time to go. No more waiting.

"Go!" I said and briskly walked into the opening. Well I did; I couldn't look back and check on anyone for fear of the consequence. This route out of the underworld was cursed; anyone who looks back once inside the tunnel is cursed to spend the rest of their days in the underworld with whomever they look upon. I had to keep my eyes straight and silently hope they my family was behind me. I could see shadows moving across the sides of the rocky walls, strange lights giving off silluetes of things that were not there. I could feel the path grow colder with every step I took. Occasionally I thought I could hear muffled whispers ahead of me but I dismissed them as my imagination.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" I heard a scream and was about to whip my head back in panic when I felt someone grab my arm.

"Don't!" Calypsos urgent voice whispered.

"It's just an illusion everyone's fine."

"But how can you-?

"I can still look back remember." I felt my body relax. Of course I was being stupid. "Trust me everyone's fine". I felt her relax her grip on my arm and drop behind me.

"Aaaaaaaah Mom!" I heard Skye panicked screams behind me.

"Keep going!" Calypso's voice came soon after.

Every fibre of by being wanted to bring my body round just to see her face but I knew I couldn't and it was killing me. I felt sick, my legs moving mechanically, just one in front of the other without pause. I couldn't pause for if I did I know I would break resolved and doom myself to eternal punishment. More screams followed me up the tunnel.

"Skye no-one's hurt! Keep going your going to be fine." Calypso's assured voice spoke to my daughter which confused me as I had not heard her speak previous

"Calp-?"

"Everyone here is being manipulated by the tunnel, seeing and hearing things that most scare them. It also cuts everyone off from each other as you can't see or hear anyone else around you. The only reason I can talk to you is because I'm not human. Keep moving. It's only going to get worse"

I hoped the news would comfort me for some reason it didn't. I kept placing each foot in front of the last, hoping that the noises would stop. All I could hear for minutes on end was the screaming pleas from my husband and daughter except they weren't. I knew that and still I could feel bile forming in the back of my throat. I was now what I could only guess was half the way through and I felt drained. I briefly considered going back and forgetting this ridiculous quest but I then remembered why I was doing this and why it was important to do so. I couldn't back out. Not now. The screaming got worse and the shadows in the walls started to spread into the mist, creating horrific 3D shapes and images in my path. At one point I thought a pack of wolves were running at me, the animals bounding at me out of the smoke that spread out before me. I drew my bow and let off one shot but the arrow just pass straight through it, doing nothing but displace a tiny bit of smoke where it touched the image. As the creature jumped at me I ducked but as soon as it became within about a foot of me it exploded into smoke. More and more deathly images flooded my mind, sounds emanating from every corner of the path trying to trick me into faltering for that one split second.

I was now two thirds of my way through the cursed tunnel; I could feel a faint breeze coming from the exit, the air slightly warmer than it was earlier. This feeling gave me renewed hope and determination. _Just hang in there not long to go now!_ My ears were being tortured every few steps, haunting screams and cries for pain following me no matter how fast I walked except they weren't were they. It was just the tunnel taunting me, filling my heart with anguish as I trudged along laughing every time I winced, making me force every step. The once small spot of light at the end of the path was now only a few hundred metres away. I started to double my pace, hearing the heels of my shoes meat dead leaves as they touched the floor, the crunching sound the only thing I could hear for a few seconds.

I had made it. I relief washed through by body for a few seconds before being immediately replaced by panic. Where is everyone? I should be able to hear their footsteps by now I double checked side to side to make sure I hadn't missed them. Before I knew what I was doing I instinctively made to turn around before I felt something tackle me to the floor, the force knocking me into the sunlight, blinding me for a few seconds before a silluette loomed over me, blocking the sun.

"Mother! Are you crazy?" I heard a voice coming from the bundle that had pushed me over. _I know that voice._ As my eyes focussed themselves, adjusting themselves to the light the outline of my daughters hand reached down and I grabbed it, pulling myself off the ground. Finally able to see where I was I gasped.

All I could see was a sea of fire and rubble. On the ground in front of me I could see an overturned sign covered in ash.

It read _Las Vagas._

**There you go thanks for reading please review**


	11. A New World

**After a seriously long hiatus of fanfiction I am back and am totally committed to completing this story. Sorry I have been unable to do this I hope this new chapter satisfies you. I'll try and update a lot more regular now.**

Chapter

Percys POV

Seeing my Wife nearly get drawn back into the underworld scared me, but not nearly as much as the sight that I saw before me. Smoke clouds billowed out from hundreds of burning buildings that glowed orange with fire. I've been in hundreds of warzones before full of monsters and evil but this felt beyond measure. The city was a ruined mess. In the distance I could just make out a tower block crumbling apart, the side of the building crashing to the ground, almost in slow motion. A few seconds after the rubble hit the floor I felt the ground shake. A gentle breeze grazed my face, a low whistling sound blowing gently into my ears. The air was cold which I found odd as the land that lay before me was a rusty orange hue. Even the sky glowed, fiery plumes of smoke billowing skywards as ruined building littered the landscape. _What have I let myself in for_I thought to myself.

I took a tentative step forward, hardly able to believe what my eyes were showing me. On either side of me, my family were equally dumbstruck, shocked expressions painting their faces. What has become of this world? I kept on moving, making slow, deliberate steps, almost afraid that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to keep on moving. Looking down I saw the floor was a rusty orange colour, cracked and dry as if water hadn't passed through it for years. I stood at what seemed like a shallow hill backing into a tall piece of stone overlooking the horrible scene before me, images I didn't want to watch yet couldn't look away from. I had no idea where I was. Any buildings or landmarks I could have used were in pieces in the earth. Annabeth took a few steps down the hill and picked up a rock, absentmindedly throwing it in the air and catching it, a look of intense thought flashing through her eyes like a light bulb. A smell of burning coated the air lacing the tongue with a bitter taste that made me almost wretch; I knew that smell. It was the smell of death and destruction, the smell of war. That was not all that disturbed me. It was too quiet. It was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat. Any sound that indicated life was absent, not even a simple birdsong to break the silence that it was beginning to become eerie.

I waved my family forward eager to get on with our task. Problem was I had no idea what my task actually was. I was sent to win the war but didn't know how.

"Calypso what exactly are you hoping for us to achieve?"

"I turned to the Titans daughter, wondering what on earth 3 ex demigods could hope to do against this…destruction. She just looked at me dead in the eye, ablaze with ferocity.

"To win" She said matter-of-factly. "I don't know how but if I did I wouldn't have needed to bring you here would I? I'll tell you this though. Travel south to Half Blood. They needs you there". She looked away for a brief second, her eyes glazing over as if she was deep in a memory.

"This is where I say goodbye. I'll try and help you when I can but I can't risk Zeus or Hades finding me so you'll be mostly on your own. I know too much...oh and here". She handed me a small bag which I quickly put in my trouser pocket. "Here are some things you might need...money, fake IDs etc. There are two Passports for each of you. One with your real name and one with an alias. Depending on the situation use whichever one feels right. Half of the other stuff the other gods packed so who knows what you'll find in there. I'm sorry I can't help more but this is all we can do. Good luck".

So looked away, gazing and the chaos infront around her. I could see a small tear escape her eyes, trickling down her face like the smallest raindrop but I didn't say anything. She was a proud goddess and I didn't want to spoil that. She wiped her eyes quickly and turned back to me.

"Goodbye" she said finally, and with that, she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving behind only silence again. Even the wind seemed to have deserted this earth, leaving us alone in this ruin.

"Where to now?" I asked Annabeth. She usually had all the ideas. At least the best ones. She took a quick look around and surveyed the immediate area.

"I guess we take a look around" she said before gradually walking down the hill, prompting the rest of us to follow. As much as I didn't want to look at the dead city, the ghost town, I knew we had to learn as much as possible about the goings on of the last 500 years. The crunch of dry bones underneath my heels was unnerving, furthermore emphasising how dead and barren the world before us was. We walked in complete silence, taking in as much as possible. The moment I reached the bottom of the hill I pulled out Riptide, it's silver blade glinting in the orange glow of the sky. I thought it was best to be safe than sorry. Annabeth had the same idea and drew her knife, and my daughter followed, drawing her twin blades and swinging them in an arc before holding them in a defensive stance. _Trust her to be flashy_I thought to myself.

It quickly became apparent to me that this battleground did not happen a great deal of time ago. No this was recent, very recent. Plumes of smoke billowing from empty buildings told of a recent battle, for if this was an old battleground, the fires would have surely died by now. As we walked further towards the outskirts of the abandoned city I began to see what looked like cars, upturned and ripped apart. The design was not something I recognised but I didn't expect to. Technology must have sure moved on in the 500 years my absence had vacated. Most of the buildings were missing complete sides, walls sheared away from their home. Shattered glass was strewn across the road along with the shards of metal and concrete, reflecting the golden sky like tiny mirrors, making the ground look like it was burning. My eyes scanned every possible hole, every possible crevice for survivors. We had to find out what happened here. That was the first step. Anything we did after that would depend on what we found out here. My eyes traced the outline of each building, trying to depict clues as to what could have transpired here. Nothing seemed to be untouched. As I turned the first corner I gasped at what I saw. A metal spire lay across a what looked like a dual carriage way, huge in size. Beams of buckled steal and iron lay twisted and broken, pinching into the road like the roots of a tree. Small pieces of the broken metal were scatted all around the area as well. What shocked me most was the familiar shape of the broken building; a spire in the centre made of four arms that gradually grew wider, the base of the spire was a buckled mess to my right, crushing the four buildings in front of it turning them into nothing more than a pile of concrete. There was no mistaking that shape. It was the Eiffel Tower.

_This can't be France_ I thought. The earth was rust coloured like in a desert France was on the plains. It didn't make sense. Skye arched her eyebrow at me, seemingly having the same thoughts. This didn't make sense. Annabeth said nothing, just letting those cogs whir in her mind, coming up with her own mental conclusions. Still we pressed on, warily weaving our way through the empty streets. I was beginning to feel uneasy. the kind of feeling you get when you are being watched. My eyes were tracing shadows in every corner, seeing movement that wasn't there. The initial feeling of isolation was long gone. I rounded another corner, expecting to see yet another ruined street but what I saw confused me. To my left was a battered building undeniably in the shape of a pyramid. Sure there were chunks blasted out and dented corners but the shame was definitely there. _First The Eiffel Tower now an Egyptian Pyramid. What in Hades…? _My head couldn't seem to get around that fact. I turned to Annabeth, about to ask a question before I heard it, soft crack of bones under foot that weren't ours behind me. My thought process was immediately lifted.

"Look out!" I screamed before swinging my shield over my head. I had barely turned by the time the impact of the first Skeletal warriors crunched against my shield. I threw him off immediately and took a defensive stance. I could see five or six of the monsters rushing me, climbing out from behind broken rocks and rubble, each of them wielding crude looking swords. _How could I not see them before!_

They looked like the skeletal warriors I had fought before but I could tell there was a difference. The bones on these creatures looked like they still had rotting skin stuck to them, little flaps of skin flaying behind them as they moved.

The soldier from before came at me again and I pulled my shield up again, ready for the block. He crashed into my shield and the weight pushed me back slightly, but not before I jabbed Riptide into the creatures ribcage, snapping a bone off as the sword smashed into the bones.

I expected the pressure to come off a bit but it seemed to do nothing to slow the skeletal demon, it's weight still tightly pressed against my shield. The beasts arms kept flailing at my shield, the metal blade ringing against the metal.

I could see out the corner of my eye Skye duelling with 2 of the warriors at once, her blades dancing in smooth movements, parrying strikes and attacking back. She was smiling, totally within her element. I could only glace for a brief moment though for the angry creature had all it's weight on my shield, desperately trying to find a way past my defences.

I lunged out again, trying to stab it in the midriff but it didn't even inconvenience it, for my sword just went right through the open gap where skin and muscle should be. _I'll have to rethink this_ I thought. With that I thrust me shield in the creatures face, knocking it back. I didn't give it any time to recover however and lunged forwards with my sword arm. Bring it down on his sword arm. The moment the blade struck bone the arm snapped off, it's weapon still gripped in its dead fingers. Now he had no weapon, the tables were turned and I thrust my shield in his body again knocking it even further back. The creature backed away further, appearing to suddenly notice its disadvantage; if it had eyes, I'm pretty sure there would be fear in them. I could not relent though, so I stormed forward and smashed it to the floor. Another two strikes later and it lay still, finally beaten.

I was just about to turn attention back to helping my family when another two warriors materialized in front of me attacking violently against my shield. One of them was about medium height, with wide shoulders and wielded a short axe. The second was a little taller and came at me with a cutlass. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this monster was the fact I could still see an eye, rolling in its eye socket, half rotted. It looked disgusting.

I didn't have time to guaze into that destroyed eye because they were on me in a flash, swinging their weapons at my shield with unequivocal venom, metal scratching against my shield, slowly driving me backwards. I replied in kind, meeting the blows with my sword when I could and countering their attacks. The fight was fast and furious, metal meeting metal at such speed it was drawing sparks.

I knew I had to finish this fight soon. The longer this lasted the more of an advantage they had. I was growing more tired by the second and they could not tire for they had no muscles to fatigue. For them it was just a waiting game.

_Time to change the rules_I thought. I risked a quick glance around to see how everyone else was doing. They seemed to be in the same predicament as me, facing almost insurmountable enemies. Skye was still doing her dance but I could tell she was getting tired as her movements slowed and the smile that was on her face earlier was gone, to be replaced by a look of total concentration. 3 piles of bones lay in front of her. I was Impressed.

Annabeth was ducking and diving in between skeletons, using her knife and her speed to outwit the opponents. She was still in the fight but she was no causing as much damage as the rest of us could seeing as she only had a small knife. Something needed to change.

"On me" I yelled as loud as I could. It was hard to hear over the constant sound of clattering swords. I soon realised they got the message though, as they slowly edged their way back towards me. They two creatures before me lunged at my shield again and I threw them back to buy myself a few seconds respite. That respite was all I needed.

I could feel a warm presence behind me which let me know that Annabeth had fallen in behind me and I could hear the whistle of Skye's swords cutting through the air nearby to my right and as I glanced that way I saw her fall into next to me, the three of us forming a rough triangle facing each side of us. We knew what we had to do.

I pocketed riptide and held my hand out in front of me, calling the power inside of me. I could feel the power flowing through me veins of all three of my Olympic deities. I called onto Zeus's power and manipulated the air around me, spinning it around in a cyclone of wind. Lightening cracked from the sky as the wind sped up, clouds coming out of nowhere darkening the sky above. The skeletal warriors tried to run at us again but couldn't such was the power of the wind. Skye's eyes almost glowed red as the power of the fire gods flames flowed through her eyes. She had once been a daughter of Hephaestus but it wasn't something she neither talked about nor demonstrated often, for the power was devastating and terrifying even to us. I couldn't see fully from where I was but what I could see was genuine power. Flames danced up and down her body and she sprung to life, using the power of her fire to blast the skeletons into ashes. The prevailing whirlwind did nothing to stop her fireballs from finding their mark as they turned each opponent into a smoking pile of ash. Out the corner of my other eye I could see Annabeth had switched her bow and was now taking down a bunch of warriors pinned to a broken wall. They had nowhere to go and the arrows were taking them down with ease.

I couldn't look for long however as it took all my concentration to keep the wind going. The two opponents before me were now helpless and I summoned two bolts of lightening to dispatch them, leaving behind nothing to even indicate they were there. I could still see monsters in the shadows but they no longer wanted to come out; just watching as their brethren was mercilessly slain.

After a few seconds all I could hear was the whistling of the wind and after taking a few seconds to make sure I was safe I released my grip on the elements. The shadows in the dark didn't fled, leaving us in the silence. I turned around and made sure everyone was ok. Annabeth shouldered her bow and Skye let her flames die. Once the fire had died from her eyes all I could see was calm, her body relaxing itself.

"What was that?" Skye asked in a surprised tone.

"I have no idea" said Annabeth, arms crossed. "They look like skeletal warriors but they were faster…stronger. Nothing like what we fought below ground. We should be careful we were caught off guard there we could have been dead before we even left the city"

"I know" I said. She was right. " We need to be more careful". I glanced over to the ruined wall, making sure the creatures were really gone.

"We need to keep moving in case they come back" said Skye as she twiddled with her swords. "there could be a lot more of them out there and I for one don't really want to find out how many. They are scared now but it won't take long for them to find their courage if we stay here"

"Agreed…" I scanned the street ahead of us. "…Where are we?" I asked, confused by the different buildings that occupied the city. At this comment Annabeth roled her eyes at me and laughed.

"You still don't know Seaweed Brain? Look around" she said, mockery covering her voice. I gauzed into the horizon, searching for more clues but couldn't find any. None of this city was making any sense.

"Come on! Eifel tower?…Pyrimid?...rust read ground?..."

"Casinos…" Skye added.

"See even she get's it!" Annabeth smiled

"Hey!" said Skye indignantly but I could see her smiling as well. I felt so stupid sometimes infront of these two. _Wait Casinos? _I took another quick look around and sure enough a few hundred yards away across the street I could see a slot machine laying on the road besides a building that looked like an artillery shell had gone, coins spilled out the sides where the machine had cracked under the impact. Suddenly comprehension dawned on me. I knew exactly where we were and I felt like an idiot for not knowing it sooner. The shock that I felt wasn't from not guessing where I was but more to do with the fact that this city was almost unrecognisable. Everything that once constituted to civilisation had been destroyed; houses, offices, casinos and even parks and walkways. All of it totally mutilated and to be replaced by a quiet mausoleum of what had once been full of life.

"So this is-" I started

"Yep" Annabeth said grimly holding her arms out wide.

"Welcome to Las Vegas".

**There you go I hope you liked. Please leave a review I put alot of work into this chapter. I know I'm a bit rusty :(**

**Hope to update again soon**


	12. What Now?

**Ok guys here is my new chapter I hope you enjoy sorry bout the wait I didn't mean to take this long.**

**Chapter 12**

**Percy's POV**

We had been walking around the city of Las Vegas for what seemed like hours, desperately trying to piece together clues as to what had happened there. There seemed to be no life other than small rodents which scuttled around, eating the scraps of what humans had left behind. Occasionally I could spot a body on the floor, obviously missed by the battle that had ravaged the city. We encountered no more resistance, too scared they were of facing us directly. Occasionally one tried to shoot an arrow at us but no sooner had the arrow left the string did Annabeth return the favour, firing one back dead on target, turning the warrior into nothing but a pile of dust. All this without even breaking strike; She was a superb marksman.

We kept moving, sometimes walking into ruins to take a closer look. Sometimes we came across sandbags piled up at the end of a road, indicating that the mortal residents had set up defence points across the city before it fell. There had certainly been a large battle here that much was certain. Sometimes I came across guns laying on the ground and bullet cases scattered around it. Weapons without their owners. I was just about to turn another corner when I heard Skye call me from behind.

"Mom! Dad! Look what I found!" my daughter called. I turned around and strained my eyes to see what she was holding while slowly walking towards her. When I got close to her I could see it was a data pad, or what looked like a data pad as times had changed a lot in the hundreds of years we had been absent.

"Looks like a datapad. I found it in the wreckage of one of these houses. At first I thought it would be broken but look-" she flicked a switch on the side and the screen switched on, a low hum emitting from the device "-It still works. Maybe we could use it to get a better idea of what happened here" she flicked through the options and clicked on one of the vids. A life size holographic image of a soldier projected itself into the air in front of us. By the looks of him he was only a young soldier, possibly early twenties, the same age our bodies had taken the form of now. He was wearing a dark camouflaged jacket with golden lapels I could only assume denoted his rank.

"11th August 2653 Captain R. James, Defence regiment. The city seems quiet today. An hour ago Charlie company came back from recon. Nothing abnormal to report at all. I have sent a detail to hand out food to the poverished sections of Las Vegas. Hopefully it will get some of the community off our backs. They don't seem too happy we've set up camp here but what they don't understand is we don't want to be here either. According to Headquarters, there have been some strange goings on lately. Small towns occupants disappearing without a trace, freak weather patterns, fights breaking out in the streets, strange creature sightings…I don't know…all this is making me feel uneasy but I'm in charge so I can't let the men know that. But orders are orders. We have to find a way of keeping the locals happy and food parcels seem to be the only way at the moment. I hope to find a permanent solution within the week. Captain James out" The hologram blinked off for a second before a beep came from the device and the hologram established itself again.

This time his face looked stressed from battle fatigue and his cloths looked dishevelled and muddy. He brushed himself before he started talking, and I could hear gunfire in the background.

"12th August 2653, Captain R. James, Defence Regiment. An all manner of monsters have invaded the city. Small arms fire seems to be having little effect, they just go down for a while and come straight back up. All we can do is slow them down. I have called in reinforcements but they won't arrive for a few days. We'll try and hold out but it's going to be hard. I know it's hard to believe for anyone reading this message but creatures of Greek mythology are rampaging through the city causing unbelievable damage. We seem to be stuck in the middle of some kind of monster dispute. We don't appear to be the direct target, some of the monsters seemingly ignoring us completely and attacking the other group of monsters. Strangely only one group appears to have hostility for us. Some even going so far as to protect civilians. I know! Strange isn't it! Unfortunately they look like they are on the losing side and more and more of the cities occupants are getting killed..."

He looked around for a few seconds, a scared look on his face for a brief second before he composed himself and continued.

"We have sustained very heavy casualties. These things are merciless, killing anything that moves. Entire housing districts have just been culled without hesitation. We are trying the best we can to get people out the city but it's tough, as the monsters won't relent at all. I have had to pull some of my best me out of the front line so I can assign them to evacuation. So far around a third of the population have been evacuated but it's getting harder and harder to pull civilians out."

The young officer looked down for ,closing eyes for a briefly appearing to consider his response. "We'll try and hold how here for as long as possible…save as many lives as possible. Captain James out". The hologram blinked off again and rematerialized the soldier again just like before. I was shocked at what I saw. This time the captain looked more dishevelled and dirty. His jacket was torn and has slash marks across its front. Lines of blood stained his cloths and his face. He looked awful.

"14th August 2653, Captain R. James Defence Regiment This is likely the last message you will ever hear from me. The monsters have broken the perimeter and have overrun our defences and all the creatures that were protecting us have since been wiped out. We are on our own now and are pulling out of Las Vegas, retreating to LA until further notice.". I could hear screaming in the background and gunfire. The Noises kept gradually raising in volume. The monsters were obviously getting closer. The officer continued, seeming oblivious to the guns firing around him.

"If we don't make it, whoever finds this datapad should take take it to General Wallace in LA. Do not let it fall into the monsters hands. I could have sworn I heard a few of them give each other's instructions. I know it's crazy but under no circumstances let this go to the wrong hands. Give this to the general and tell him what has transpired here. This has been a massacre. Barely half of the cities occupants made it out in time." He stopped for a second, almost stuttering, a lone tear creeping its way across his dirty cheek.

"I'm sorry…on hellh-!"e was cut off abruptly as a hellhound materialised out of nowhere and jumped on him. I could hear his ear-splitting screams as he was torn limb from limb in front of my eyes on the hologram. Skye turned off the recording, sparing us any more of the horrific mutilation. Something told me there would be nothing more of use on that recording. For a few seconds we just stood in silence taking in what we had just heard. Monsters had just rolled in and annihilated an entire city without mercy or reason. What could have possibly been gained from his? It's just a city. The worrying thing is how easy our own forces had managed to be defeated. I could understand how helpless the humans would be against this enemy but the god alliance (for that was who I assumed had sent them) soldiers had been defeated nearly as easily. Our side was definitely losing that much was definite.

After a few long minutes of silence finally Annabeth spoke up.

"So what does this tell us?" She asked. I could sense her analytical brain working. She already knew the answers she just wanted to see if we did. Skye started talking first.

"That Zeus has gone crazy I guess" she said shrugging her shoulders

"Other than that" Annabeth smiled. "Think how surprised that man was that there were creatures from greek myth rampaging across the city that means-"

"-that they monsters have only just started revealing themselves to the humans." I finished.

"That's right." Annabeth said with a nod.

Then something came to me.

"Hang on a minute Annabeth how come's normal humans are seeing monsters anyway? Isn't the mist supposed to prevent that? I mean all they should have seen is a load of escaped zoo animals quarrelling or a gang fight not what they actually saw!"

"I can only assume that the magic has somehow weakened since the gods started infighting" replied Annabeth. "Now they haven't got their whole strength holed up at Olympus some of the magic bonds could be wavering. Remember their power relies on the need for what they stand for. Remember Pan Percy? He faded when there wasn't enough wild for him to protect and it's the same here. The world is being destroyed so the essences of who the gods are weaken as well. Zeus is probably still powerful because he is god of the sky and you can't destroy the sky. Same goes for Poseidon and most of the other Olympians. It's the minor gods that are likely losing their power."

"Well that makes it easier in a way" Skye interjected, putting her hands on her hips. "we don't have to worry so much at keeping a low profile."

"That's a good point actually Skye" her mother agreed nodding approvingly. "We don't have to do so much explaining when we encounter people on our journeys. Not only that but we don't have to 'blend in' so much. Most of the people we meet should be armed if it's anything like it is here. They would be stupid not to."

"You got that right…I guess we should head to LA then?" said replied Skye. We all nodded in approval. Finally some direction. We had a goal now and we could finally make some progress. Progress to what we did not know yet.

"Yeah it looks like it…we should deliver the datapad to the General while we are there and see what he knows. With the mist gone I doubt he's going to be completely oblivious" Annabeth said. She looked at me and arched her eyebrows questioningly.

"Well?" she said with a smile

"Yep" I replied "Time to take a trip to LA"

**Poseidon's POV**

I sat there on my throne, casually tapping my glass. I was finding it hard to thing as the war had left me fatigued and haggard. My brother had really been pushing it hard and the resistance had barely been able to keep up. That is why we had to throw a few my dice into the mix. My son and his wife and daughter; three of the best heroes the world has ever had. It was a huge gamble for if they failed, they would be subject to Hades punishment, which would be severe. I didn't want to think about it. After all, he was my son and he deserved more than that but we were desperate. We ARE desperate.

I raised the glass to my lips, tasting the Olympian wine. It was my last bottle. Zeus had complete control of Olympus now and sneaking back up there to get more was out of the question. We are at war now as much as it pains me to admit it. My brother turned into a complete tyrant. His destruction has left the world in ruin and for what? He seemed to have on goal. At least not one I could openly think of. Even Athena couldn't think of a legitimate reason why he would do this and she usually knows everything. The world was a mess. I now sit here holed up in Atlantis, the only place I really was safe, drinking the last of my wine. My wife had taken to helping around the city, helping with the Cyclopes and the blacksmiths, leaving me alone a lot of the time with my thoughts.

The war had drained us all. Occasionally Athena came down and spoke to me about battle tactics and the other god's activities. We still weren't exactly friends but much of our previous hostility towards each other had faded, partly due to circumstance, partly due to our sons and daughters relationship. I sat here waiting for one of those times. Athena had sent word a few days ago that she would like to speak to me about a new development. A few of the other gods had been called in as well.

I finished my wine and started at the ceiling. After the second Titan war the entire city had been rebuilt and now it looked better than ever. His throne room looked like a simple glass dome with to the casual observer but the more observant would notice that there was no glass. A thin sheet of magic enveloped the space where the glass should be creating a sturdy shield, gently glowing a pale shade of blue against the backdrop of the darkened depths of the Atlantic ocean. An even more observant person would notice the light glow that emitted from the magical shield, creating moving images that displayed important battles of the past. Normally he took no notice of them but today he kept his eye on the image that shimmered in the centre of his view; his son, fighting off dozens of Kronos's soldiers at once, a day that the Sea God would never forget. Never does a god truly feel pride such was the arrogant nature of their kind. They hated admitting that a mere mortal was stronger than themselves but sometimes that simply was true and it was _because _they were mortal that this was true. Watching the magical battle enactment in his Throne room reminded him that there was still hope.

A knock on the door broke me out of my trance and I quickly stowed away my wine glass underneath my desk. The last thing I wanted to happen was that Athena saw I had been drinking and then have to listen to the lecture afterwards.

"Come in". The wooden door creaked open and my wife tentatively took a step inside. I had become increasingly temperamental recently and to be honest she was a tad scared. I made a mental note to apologize later.

"Athena has arrived. So have Hephaestus and Artemis…shall I send them in?". She said in flatly. I gestured with my hand to bring them in.

"Thank you my dear send them in and…I'm sorry". She simply nodded and smiled weakly before promptly exiting the room. A few seconds later Athena entered the room flanked by Hephaestus and Artemis. Artemis looked like she was fresh from battle, her white dress torn and face slightly dirty. Hephaestus looked his usual unhappy self, his deformed face puffing like there was somewhere else he'd rather be. Probably true. The last place a god of fire wanted to be was in water. Athena just looked her usual down to business self.

I pressed a button on my desk and gestured them to sit down as three dark blue armchairs rose from the ground. The three gods quickly sat down. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence followed before. I cleared my throat gesturing Athena to talk. She levelled her eyes at me before opening her mouth to speak.

"I think I've found something." She started, a small smile forming on lips. She hardly ever smiled so the news must be good. Waving a hand in the air she materialised a globe in front of her. Swirls of clouds floated thinly over the surface and it took me a few seconds to realise this was the earth as it was. Dark thunderstorms covered most of the planet, lit up orange by the fires below. The planet looked like it was dead other than a small circle in the northern hemisphere.

Great Britain.

"Yesterday evening I decided to risk some recon and travel to the planet surface." Hephaestus

Athena pointed to this spot and resumed talking.

"Look at the planet. The entire surface is destroyed by war and conflict apart from here." She paused for a few seconds, encouraging someone else to talk.

"Maybe it's an oversight?" I said though without much conviction.

"Zeus doesn't make mistakes Poseidon" she said flatly.

"Then why leave Britain alone? As far as I know, there is nothing there he could use so why leave it?" Hephaestus asked. Truth be told he had a point.

"I don't know…" she paused for a moment, letting her mind analyse the facts in ways that no-one else's could. "It's almost as if he isn't interested in this region at all. What's more interesting is that all his airborne monsters such as Griffins etc. fly _around_ not _over_ the country. It's like it's a completely taboo region. Why is he leaving that place alone?"

"Or shall we ask why is he avoiding it?" I said with a smile. Something suddenly clicked in my brain at that moment. I felt stupid for not seeing it straight away. Athena's eyes darted up to meet mine.

"Go on" she said before crossing her arms.

"Think about how your father has been acting lately. If there was something he needed In that region he would just go in all guns blazing and take it. No…there is a reason this country has been left untouched. Should we go and take a look?" I asked Athena. She thought for a second then slowly shook her head.

"No too risky. If Zeus catches us out in the open he could kill us. Remember he has weapons that can hurt us now we can't just go wading in. Even if we try and sneak in quietly Zeus or Hades will pick up our essence and we'd be found out. And you forget Aries as well. No _we_can't go there…" she trailed off, letting another one of her wicked smiles form. I sensed a plan

She started pacing up and down with her hand on her chin, occasionally looking up then shaking her head again. I just stayed silent at my desk, waiting for her to finish her train of thought. In my experience it was best just to let her do what she needed. This was Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy among other things. If anyone know how to succeed it was her.

Hephaestus was getting restless and was about to speak when I put my hand up to silence him.

_Wait_ I mouthed to him. He just nodded his had and slumped back down on his chair

"Athena what are you thinking" Artemis spoke in a serious tone. Her voice almost made me jump as I'd forgotten she was here. She hadn't said a word since she first arrived. She looked almost white.

Athena stopped pacing and looked down, fidgeting slightly.

"Yes…yes…" she whispered. "Aha!" she shouted, almost knocking me off my chair. She was now smiling. She almost never smiled like that.

"Well come on I haven't got all day. My huntresses are waiting and it's only a matter of time before the hunt is on again. I sense they are in danger and will require my help soon" said Artemis irritably

"And I need to craft more weapons…our soldiers in central Europe are beginning to weaken…so yeah please get to the point" added Hephaestus. I could imagine sparks bouncing around his moustache in annoyance and beard but the water wouldn't allow it. Instead he just looked grumpy.

"Ok here is what are going to do. Poseidon, send message to Calypso, we need her to sneak in to the island and scout the area. Whatever Zeus doesn't want to disturb on the island must be found so keep your eyes open." I nodded. Of course we'd send her. We always do. She was the person that could do the impossible…Our not so secret weapon.

"Artemis, can you and your hunters give her a diversion? Create some chaos?" Artemis shrugged her shoulders at this comment.

"I guess but why?" she asked.

"Because, if Zeus suddenly decides to get bold, we need to buy Calypso some more time. The more time we can give her, the more information we can find out" Athena replied.

"Ok you have my support" Artemis said, nodding slowly

"Go" I said to her "We have little time to waste". With that she took her leave and disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving behind a small pocket of bubbles before the water remained still once more.

"I'll keep an eye on our heroes. I may not be able to help them directly but maybe I can give them a…nudge in the right direction." I wicked smile forged its way onto her lips. I could help but smile myself. Athena was in an unusually happy mood and I wasn't going to spoil it. For once there was optimism or perhaps, more accurately put, a reason to be optimistic. Things were not as hopeless as before.

Athena's wicked grin was still etched on her face as she flashed away in a wave of light, leaving me alone in my throne room once more…

For the first time in years I let myself believe that there was a chance that we could actually win.

**There are a few mistakes but I've left them there for a reason. I'm looking for a Beta reader. I tried looking through the registry but I couldn't find what I was looking for so I'm hoping that one of you lovely fans would be willing to become one for me. If your interested inbox me and I'll give you a trial.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a bitch to write hence the long wait. Until next time, chow.**


	13. Los Angeles Part 1  The Safe Zone

**Hey thanks for reading. The reason for my long update wait was I was planning on making this a long chapter covering a lot more but writers but a combination of writers block and heavy band schedule has meant I've had to put off writing for long periods. I've decided to split it into two parts to take the pressure off a bit. I'll write the other half when I get back**

Chapter 13

13

We must have been walking for about 5 days then. At first I didn't think anything was out of the ordinary, putting down our endless energy to the adrenaline and excitement of simply being alive. Only after about seven hours did something seem off. It was pitch black, the night sky was hiding its stars behind a thick blanket of clouds, giving away no light whatsoever. The moon was also obscured, which seemed to put Annabeth on edge, her Artemis blood yearning for the glare of the moonlight. We had to use her as a guide as she was the only one that could see in the pitch black. We mostly walked in silence, as if afraid our voices would cut through the quiet and the noise would bring trouble. We had been walking for several hours without a single sound.

But no. That wasn't what was strange. None of us felt any tingles of exhaustion and that was the strange part. We kept walking on and on, like machines, not stopping, not slowing down. Only walked to our destination like automatons. My mind was as sharp as it had been when we had left. I felt no fatigue induced paranoia, no need to sit down and rest. None of us had slept in 3 days, simply because we didn't need it. We still needed food and drink and we stopped at any service station found along the way stocking up on snacks and using money Calypso had given us before we came out to/out of (don't know which) the underworld. We knew it wouldn't last forever but it was something to work with for a while. There were welcome breaks in our journey as they were all mostly staffed, showing that the world was still somewhat functional. When we left, I took hold of Skye's hand again so as not to lose her. It was impossible to see in the dark, but I wasn't going to lose her.

We spoke briefly to one of the shop keepers, asking questions about the state of the world but giving away as little as possible. He didn't seem to mind too much; he didn't even question how heavily armed we were nor did he seem surprised. I guess that was how things were now. I felt well rested and ready. My eyes were scanning every vessel of light available to me, which wasn't much, for indications of danger. There were none. Either the creatures were too afraid to attack us or they were simply attacking someone else. My instincts told me to keep watch, though, so I did.

We were close then; the open plains of the Nevada desert were turning more urban and green, at least I guessed it was green as it was still dark. I only guessed that because occasionally I could hear the cracking of twigs and branches under Annabeth's feet in front of me. . We were nearing the outskirts of Los Angeles.

I still couldn't believe that we had been walking nonstop for 5 days but the how's and why's didn't matter to me. That was more of Annabeth's department. We must have been silent for 3 hours before Skye cleared her throat to speak. I nearly jumped out of my skin and she just giggled softly at my moment of fright.

"Dad, you're a wimp." She said still laughing. I had to smile at that point. It was impossible not to.

"Dad, have you considered what we are going to say if we actually find this General?" she continued in a low whisper, though in the dead silence of the night a simple whisper sounded like a shout. I arched my eyebrows questioningly. To be honest I hadn't given much thought to it.

"Think about it dad. One of the first things he is going to ask is 'who we are' and 'why we are there'. Answering any of those questions honestly is unlikely to do us any favours" she finished. She had a point. I was about to reply when I heard my wife's voice come out of the darkness in front of me.

"I don't think lying is going to do us any favours either. We'll have to tell him the truth at some point and starting off our relationship with lies is hardly going to win us any friends in the long run…" She said trailing off at the end. It seemed she had something else to say but chose against it. I decided not to press it for now.

"Yeah mom I'd love to hear this conversation." My daughter said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"_Hello General my name is Annabeth Jackson, this is my husband Percy and this is my daughter Skye. You may remember us from _several hundred fucking years ago_ fighting a war that was waged before your great grandparents were even born and we have come out of the underworld to fight again because shit has once again hit the fan and it's up to us to save the day'_ seriously mom if we tell the truth I would be surprised if we weren't detailed under the grounds of mental health." She finished, her sarcastic tone getting harsher word by word.

I had to control myself not to laugh; she was like her mother in so many ways and watching the back and forth between the two of them was sometimes just fantastic. This was one of those times.

"Oh really?" she replied, her voice slightly raising. "I thought about saying that but then remembered I'm not an idiot like your father."

"Hey!" I said in protest and they both laughed. It was so good to just talk and joke around. It was like the good old days

"We don't have to lie exactly. We just don't tell the _whole_ truth." Annabeth continued.

"We could just say we are war veterans and we picked up an old datapad telling us to go to him if the original owner died…it's not exactly lying though I don't know how we could pass as veterans as we barely look 25"

"Mercenaries?" I asked.

"No…a lot of military types mistrust mercs and for good reason. They are mostly guns for hire with no morals. Besides what mercenary carries an ancient green sword and shield? The mist doesn't protect us any more so we have to be more careful about what we say" my wife reasoned. She was right again. We had to think of something then though. If we were put on the spot, mistakes would likely happen.

"I think the best thing we **can** say now is that we are refugees. I don't think it matters what we say when we get there, we are still armed to the teeth in what they would call 'strange weaponry'. I don't really think they are going to believe a simple cover story no matter what it is. We are just going to have to persuade this man to trust us. A hard task I know, but under the circumstances it's all we can hope for." I said sadly. There was really not much that could be done.

"I think your right dad but how are we going to do that? You know what these army people are like. They won't trust anyone but themselves and it's not like we have the greatest record with people of authority". My daughter laughed at the last part. It was true. Our family didn't exactly take orders very well and when we did we took…artistic licence with them. Well I did. Annabeth usually just went along with it then had a go at me later for being reckless. I wasn't around to see this but I heard a lot of stories of Skye and Arianna playing loose with the law. Not that I had any problem with taking orders. A chain of command is actually essential in a battle and keeps you and your allies focussed and committed to a single goal. No. Taking orders was fine. Taking _bad _orders wasn't. At least not for us.

"I know dear. Maybe this time will be different.…? Then again probably not." Annabeth said and we all laughed again together.

As we walked, light began to creep up behind us, marking the start of another day. The blackness of the night slowly drifted away and I could start to make out colours and outlines of trees. We had long ago passed through the Nevada desert and rusty dirt had been replaced by grass and the occasional building. In the distance I could see the soaring skyscrapers that were the centre of this great city. I couldn't see from this distance but they looked relatively intact. Nothing like what I had witnessed in Las Vegas. As we moved closer and closer to the City centre more and more buildings came into view and the green slowly dissolved into a dense urban setting. Nothing seemed to be damaged as far as I could tell. There were even people milling around on the streets doing their day to day things. That surprised me somewhat as I had seen no cars on the roads coming either way. I assumed we would just find another broken city. I was wrong; the further in I got, the more people I saw. No one gave us a second glance and we were treated invisibly like any other resident. People must have been getting up to go to work, seemingly oblivious to the calamitous destruction elsewhere.

It was only when we came within a mile's distance from the skyscrapers that we noticed any difference. The first sign of something different was a stopping point. Across the width of the road a line of barbwire stretched across it, the only way through being a small gate where a couple of armed guards stood to check ID, each flanked by about 5 more guards on each side. A short long line of people stood anxiously waiting to go through. It was all rather ordered, but the looks on the people's faces were pained, almost like they were dreading to be the next in line. For a few minutes we just stood from a distance, watching the group of people slowly get checked through the gate. I also realised something else that had been bothering me. The lack of noise.

No one seemed to smile. People just stayed in line, waiting to be the next to cross the barrier. I saw a young child in a red dress quietly making her way through with her mother or at least trying to, for the mother was denied entry for some reason. She was distraught and started screaming loudly and incoherently. I couldn't hear what was being said but what I did hear was a small child crying for her mother, as the woman almost threw her child through the gate. The girl tried to run back but was restrained by the guards. It was a horrible sight. They were both crying out for each other. The only clear words I could make out were the Child's mother crying "be safe Maria…be safe". Then she was gone back into the crowd, for by now the line had become so populated it was now a mob. I could barely make out individual people, the small child screams growing quieter and quieter by the second. I could feel the little girls anguish and even though I knew there was nothing I could do, I still felt guilty…a guilt that didn't even make sense as we had only just arrived to this horrible scene.

For a few minutes we deliberated about stepping forward and asking the soldiers what was going on but we kept waiting, frozen in place watching on as more and more people joined the que. It quickly hit us that the people we saw outside earlier were not going to work, not taking their children to school. No, they were coming here, or places like here as I knew this must be some kind of boundary, to step within the safety of the barricades. It didn't take a genius to work out that this city held a quiet danger that before now we hadn't noticed. It must have been about twenty minutes before Annabeth stepped forward and said 'Screw this" before walking briskly to one of the guards near the gate, dragging us along with her, as for some reason our bodies just didn't want to move.

The moment he spotted her approach he turned to face her with his palm outstretched.

"I'm sorry maam but your going to have to join the que. No-one is allowed to cross into the safe zone unless they were chosen by the draw" he said with authority. The man looked like he was in his mid-thirties and fairly thick built. Here was a man who was at home in the army. Annabeth just smiled warmly at him.

"Can you please tell me what is going on? I'm sorry but we aren't from here and don't really understand what's going on" she said sweetly, layering on the charm. That's one of the things I loved about my wife. She could make almost anyone do whatever she wanted just by acting sweet and innocent. Anyone that really knew her knew she was far from that.

The soldier looked surprised for a split second but quickly regained his composure.

"Where have you been the last few months? We are under lockdown. It's dangerous for anyone outside these walls but I'm afraid we just haven't got the man power to protect everyone. The cities residence was put in a random raffle to determine who could stay here but as you can see, many people have been turned down. Good people as well….women, children. I'm sorry if you came here looking for sanctuary. It doesn't matter where you're from I don't you'd come here for much else. The war has touched everyone. Thing is unless you live here you haven't even got a chance of being let in. I'm sorry but that's just the way it is. Where you come from anyway?" He finished.

I could see a flash of sympathy in his face but for the most part he remained very stoic. He has obviously had to turn down a lot of people today and his emotions were shot.

"Vegas" said Annabeth.

"Oh what's the situation over there?. I heard that there was a lot of fighting. I wanted to go there myself and help but I have work to do here"

"It's a good job you didn't go there. The entire place is in ruin" Annabeth said. This time the soldier could barely contain his shock. He almost went white.

"We...er…what happened?" he asked, almost in a whisper.

"We don't know the full story ourselves but what we do know is that the place is a ghost town. We walked around the wreckage for hours and could and there was almost no trace of life…well there was a few but certainly not friendly ones." I cut in. I didn't think it was fair to just let Annabeth do all the talking for us.

"The captain?" he asked flatly. He already knew the answer to this question but needed confirmation.

"Gone" I said flatly. The soldier just gazed back at us, completely in shock. Obviously the fate of Las Vegas was a big surprise to him.

"…Such a shame. I had friends over there. Good men…good men…" he trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.

"That's part of the reason why we are here actually" Skye chipped in. "We found this" she showed him the datapad.

"It belonged to the captain and it held quite a few messages. One of the recordings on it told us to bring it to a General Wallace. That's why we came here. To deliver the message." She finished. The man narrowed his eyes at us in suspicion.

"Who are you?" he asked. That was a good question. Do we tell him the truth at this point? Even though the war was hundreds of years ago, our names are nearly as famous as Alexander the Great or Caesar. On the other hand starting off with a lie won't bode well later. Skye looked rather thrown back by the question as well. Luckily Annabeth stepped in to save us embarrassment.

"My name is Anna and this is my sister Skye" she gestured across. It was evident she couldn't pass for our daughter without a long a painful explanation he would unlikely believe. I also noticed she didn't opt to use her full name. Not many people call themselves Annabeth these days

"I'm Percy Annas husband." I said with a smile.

"I'm Sergeant Crawley. What were you doing in Vegas? Do you live there?" he asked. Yes he was definitely suspicious.

"No we don't live there. If we did it's doubtful we could have made it here. When we left there were a few…enemies left in the city but we escaped without any real incident. Once we saw the recording we decided to make our way here. As for what we were doing there...I'm afraid I can't really say" I explained though as I finished I caught a glance at his panicked expression and resolved to explain a little further.

"Oh don't worry it's nothing illegal or untoward, you just wouldn't believe us even if we tried to explain. It's a long story and there just isn't enough time to tell it. Maybe we'll get a chance to tell it someday but right now there are more pressing matters." I gestured back to the datapad that Skye was holding. Crawley eyed it for second, appearing to be deep in thought. A few seconds later he waved to a couple of soldiers guarding the gate.

"I'm going to take these people through" Crawley said. One of the soldiers opened his mouth to protest but was quickly cut off. "Don't argue Private. You just take my orders and let them through. These people have important information for the General." He waved his hand in front of him, gaining the attention of one of the guards on about ten yards away from the barricade. A young soldier came running towards him and stood to attention in front of the sergeant.

"Yes Sir"

"Private Ross take my place while I take these three to HQ. Don't let anyone in. Only use lethal force as a last resort." He said sternly. The young soldier gave an affirmative and took Crawleys place on the barricade while Crawley showed us through the gate.

This seemed to be the last straw for the mob outside the gates. I heard a series of groans and angry outcries as we were allowed entrance.

"Hey! These people can't push in!" one of them shouted to loud cheers from the rest of the crowd.

"So your just going to let In anyone you want? And leave us out here like lambs ready to be slaughtered you make me sick!" another one of the spat. I turned around to face the crowd in it's entirety. I could see anger and desperation on their faces. They were minutes away from doing something stupid. All they needed to break was a catalyst, us. I didn't fancy being the cause of a riot. The noise was steadily rising. By now I could barely think clearly.

"Enough!" Crawley growled at them but they were continuing to get loader. I could see Annabeth started to get pissed off and I was dreading it. When she got angry it was dangerous. Gone were the days where she used to just fire up. There was no stiffening of the body or narrowing of the eyes neither was there any barred teeth. No the only indication that she was angry now was a slight smile. I could see her hands roaming towards her knife and quietly unsheathing it. At first everyone in the crowd just laughed at her, after all she was one woman and the knife was small and old fashioned. I clicked the cap of Riptide and stood next to her just incase things turned ugly and Skye shortly followed suit and unclipped the blades from her belt.

The crowd quickly became silent. I'm sure under normal circumstances they would have thrown caution to the wind and attacked us but it was obvious to them something was different. We didn't fear them at all. Annabeths eyes were dark and cold, daring anyone to challenge her, yet still sporting a wry smile that looked out of place in that moment. Skye just arched her eyebrow at me and walked away towards Crawley. He gave us a questioning look and gestured for us to follow him.

"I guess we'll be going then" Annabeth said blankly at the crowd before following her daughter away. We remained silent for a few minutes, taking in the scenery.

As soon as we were clear from the gate I noticed there was a lot of military here. All around me on the street there were soldiers making their way around the city centre. A lot of buildings that were once busy shops looked to be closed down though a few remained open. There were normal people milling around doing their day to day, acting as if nothing was wrong. I noticed kids playing football in side streets and occasionally a stray dog eating fishing through rubbish bags for scraps. It was a city functioning as a city should. Without all the armed guards, it would just feel like any normal city. The buildings were a lot more modern than I remembered them as of course they would be, Almost completely made of glass except the supports and the inner walls. I could feel a strange kind of energy radiating from then, indicating that the glass was reinforced with some kind of forcefield. I couldn't tell anyone how I knew that. I just knew; one of quite a few changes that have happened since we left our place in the Island. I ignored it for now though. I could think about my new 'gifts' later on when I had time. After a short while Crawley began talking.

"As you can see we are trying to keep some semblance of normality here in the city. It's hard on everyone but this is the best we can do. Attacks have increased in the past few months and it's become dangerous for the people in the outside. At first we could handle it but they just kept coming and coming. It was like a flood. After a while we could do nothing but retreat to the city centre. When they saw us starting to retreat they just left. I'm under no illusion that's the end though. They will be back." He said sadly, allowing his gaze to drop slightly. It was obvious by his posture and demeanour that he was tired of fighting. He gestured to his left where there was a small clearing surrounded by tents.

"Those that our outside the gates that are allowed through stay here in this camp or in the many others like it dotted around the metropolis. It's not ideal but we haven't really got room otherwise. We feed them, cloth them and make sure they have something to eat but past that they mostly keep to themselves. Those who have jobs in the city are allowed to work though many of their jobs are now obsolete as you probably could guess." No-one said anything. We just listened to him talk. As time went by we passed more and more refugee camps, each populated with men woman and children. Most of them looked clean and healthy and sported much the same cloths, giving them the look of prisoners. I guess they all were prisoners in a way

At First glance this place seemed well defended, a safe haven for the people to live without fear. Soldiers lined every street, trying their best to blend in with their surroundings as to make the place seem almost normal. Then I remembered the angry mob outside. Those people, innocent civilians were prepared to riot simply because they'd allowed us into this seemingly insignificant location. It was clear, simply from the incident, that things were nowhere near as peaceful as it first seemed. The constant presence of the military turned from comforting to worrisome in a single moment. I felt the sudden urge to run and take my family far away from here. It wasn't an option though.

I don't know what I was expecting though. Why would this amount of military be present if there wasn't a reason. The world was plunged in war it wasn't like the place was garrisoned up in peace time. I mentally berated myself for being surprised. This was probably the best we could have expected

My eyes kept scanning the streets, falling on each and ever passer-by as we moved, my ears only half listening to what Crawley was saying. The military presence was staggering; at least 2 soldiers to every 3 civilians. Outside these walls there were no soldiers at all almost. It was no wonder the mob outside were prepared to riot. If the chips were down and the enemy came, they stood almost no chance of survival. They would have to fend for themselves or hide and home that they were not found. From the destruction of Vegas though, I doubt anyone could hide.

There wasn't a living thing left in that city when we left. As my party continued to move I noticed other things, small things that only the trained eye could see and even then they would have to know what they were looking for. The signs that something was off was everywhere from the hurried to walks to the backward glances. People sat quietly on street corners with wistful looks in their eyes, people longing to leave but unable to knowing they could die if they do. I suppose their freedom was a small price to pay for their lives at the end of the day. Those who noticed my sweeping gauze either smiled sheepishly, as if to say "I know bad isn't it", or ignored me completely, the shame of what they are having to sacrifice for safety too much to face. They were ashamed and to be honest I couldn't blame them.

The place seemed pleasant enough but it was evident that all it would take to break the calm was a single moment. It could be a simple argument in the street or bad news from another town. Rumours would travel like wildfire and panic flow over the city like a wave, causing what little order there was to evaporate and be replace by anarchy. No it wouldn't take much at all. It quickly became apparent that the military were the only thing giving the citizens any semblance of normality for without them the citizens would have nothing for the them to grasp on to if things got bad.

Hope was a tenuous thing and once it falls, there is nothing left to hide behind.

Crawley kept on talking as we made our way to the command centre. He explained that the perimeter circled the city centre in a rough octagon shape stretching a 2 mile radius. 5 months ago there had been a large attack resulting in a lot of deaths. At the time there hadn't been a large garrison here so the death toll was large. A month later General Wallace came in and took control of the city. For a few months everything went back to normal and although there was a lot of emotional damage, the people started going about their daily business again and normalcy resumed. Then there was another attack even large than the first. Half the population lay dead and the army was pushed back into the city centre. That was when the perimeter fence was created and the idea of the raffle started.

The General realized that he couldn't save everyone. If they carried on as they were then everyone would die. Now at least a small part of the population had a fighting chance if they came under attack again. Those above the age of 18 were trained in weapons and armaments, ready to be called upon if the worst should happen. The captain said this was his idea and it gave those who wanted a chance to fight to do their bit and made them feel less useless. It was a good idea and helped boost the fragile morale of the people. Almost everyone who was of age volunteered, the only ones choosing not to fight were simple parents with young children.

Before long we had arrived at the command centre. From the outside it looked nothing special, just a large green marque surrounded by communications equipment and other smaller tents. The place was buzzing with activity, men and women in arm uniforms running in and out of the large tent. The illusion of peacefulness imposed on the rest of the city was absent here, replaced by urgency and muted despair. It was clear the moment I entered this small clearing that things were bad.

Very bad.

**Well there it is :) thank you so much for reading and please review I love to know what people think.**


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